Precious Little Things
by StoryTimeWithZora
Summary: Following Starscream's life as a rogue, he is repeatedly met by Transformers calling themselves "Heralds of Unicron". As the Air Commander finally returns to the Decepticons, he brings a rather unexpected gift with him, in the form of six sparklings. Now Starscream must raise and protect his sparklings from dangers like Megatron, the Autobots, and the mysterious Nightbird...
1. Prologue

PROLOGUE

* * *

Silent snoring sounded from the recharging tables in the dim-lit medbay. Tiny servos and peds moved around in their dreams, and small squeaks emitted from the small protoforms now and then. Their small sparks flickered gently in the darkness.

The white and red nursebot stood in the door opening and watched them. He wiped his lubricate-wet forehead in exhaustion. Taking care of hatchlings was hard work.

The alarm rang from the reception. Another visitor. Hopefully one without a hatchling. Eight was more than enough trouble to take care of.

The nursebot went to the reception room. He held back a sigh of relief as the visiting bot in the waiting room was alone. "How can I help you, sir?" he asked in a friendly tone, sitting down behind his desk.

The newcomer was tall and bulky, dark green and orange, with a pair of downward pseudo-wings on his back. Either a hover-plane or some fancy racecar, the nursebot assumed. His face was purple and covered by a mouth-plate, and he had a pair of green optics. In the middle of his chest, a circle with dark blue ornaments surrounded a large, red pearl of sorts. At first glance, this mech seemed quite dark and gloomy. Instead of the usual Autobot or Decepticon insignia, however, his 'wings' displayed a strange yellow insignia, featuring a head with four horns, the lower pair bigger than the top pair. He didn't seem hostile though.

"I am Creop Trivem from the Cybertronian Parental Union, or CPU for short," the stranger introduced himself.

"That's…an interesting name," the nursebot commented. He was definitely not from around here, probably from the southern hemisphere somewhere. He didn't say it out loud though. It might insult the stranger. "I'm First Aid, Protectobot and caretaker of the Iaconian Nursery."

"I know who you are," Creop said. "I was sent to check on the hatchlings. Confirm if they are thriving and if they are cared for well enough."

"Sure they are. But if you need proof, I can show you where they are." First Aid rose from his chair and gestured towards the hallway. Creop followed after.

"How many hatchlings do you care for in this facility?" Creop asked curiously while they were walking through the hallway.

"The number rises and falls from time to time," First Aid replied as they reached the door to the hatchlings. "Currently I have eight."

"Sounds like quite a handful."

First Aid opened the door, and they were met by the sight of the ever-sleeping hatchlings, laying innocently on each their recharging tables, which were outfitted with bars along the edges to prevent them from falling down as they shifted in their sleep. Their heads were large and silver like their limbs, their torsos black with exposed spark chambers, which were glowing a faint blue color.

"It is. But I used to care for a lot more. At one point I took care of at least _thirty_ of them. And back then, I wasn't the only one on Cybertron taking care of hatchlings. But lately…" First Aid looked saddened at the sleeping little protoforms.

"Yes," Creop continued for him. "Hatchlings are starting to thin out. People prefer construction rather than growth." He went over to their cribs and examined them in the dim-lit room.

"I don't get why though. I mean, sure, it's a lot faster and easier than waiting several years for them to mature, but they don't turn out as sturdy and developed as hatchlings do. Besides, they're so… _cute_." He sighed endearingly while looking at one kicking tenderly and squeaking.

"Irrelevant for army-builders such as Megatron," the dark mech said lowly while using a scanning device on the hatchlings, trying not to wake them. "He's not patient enough to wait for them to mature. Zeta Prime isn't any better. As much as you Autobots claim you work for good, your leader seems to care more about fighting back the Decepticons than maintaining an entire species."

"Hatchlings aren't a separate species, they're just a stage of life," First Aid protested. "And I admit, there are a lot of Autobots who could…show more _compassion_ than they do. But some of us are trying really hard to keep the peace and morale around here."

"How much energon do you feed them on a daily basis?" Creop asked as he finished his outside analysis of the hatchlings.

"Three times a day," First Aid replied. "With artificial energon. There aren't many crystals left on Cybertron, after all. But it works just as fine, and the hatchlings seem to like it."

"I see…" Creop retracted his analysis devices and shook servos with the nursebot. "Well, that's all. I'll be off now."

"Already?" They walked out and left the sleeping hatchlings. "But you just arrived! Let me at least get you a cup of energon…"

"Thanks for the offer," Creop said politely as they walked through the hallway and entered the reception. "But I'm too busy. I have to report back to CPU with my results. And perhaps I'll stop by the citadel and pay the Prime a visit."

"Well, thanks for your visit anyway."

First Aid followed Creop to the entrance, where the dark mech switched to his alt mode. A hover-plane of sorts. Just as he'd expected. Creop Trivem took off without a parting word, leaving First Aid alone in the dark night, the only source of light in the area coming from the reception room.

He was just about to close the door behind him when he heard a faint whirring sound from the alley on the other side of the area. He knew by both instinct and common knowledge that it would be dangerous to investigate in this time of war. It could be a Decepticon scout or…

A head peeked from a pile of scrap. A tiny head. The backside of a hatchling. First Aid flinched. He couldn't leave a lone hatchling behind. He left the door ajar and walked towards the hatchling in the scrapheap. It seemed to be shuddering. He could hear the faint whirring sound from before, though louder as he went closer. _The poor thing must be frightened,_ he thought. Maybe it had been abandoned by its parents, or someone had kidnapped it and left it to die. Or maybe someone lacking responsibility wanted _him_ to take care of it instead, given they had left it at his doorstep. Either way, he couldn't leave it out here, not with all this war going on. It could get hurt, or worse.

"Hey there, little fellow," he said softly as he approached the hatchling. It turned its head and stared at him with its big, glossy purple eyes. "Are you lost? Where are your—"

First Aid almost had a stroke, when the hatchling's head opened and exposed a mouth filled with rows of sharp teeth. But that wasn't the freakiest part; afterwards, the head went into the air, _bodiless_. No, wait, there were tiny legs and arms attached to a body barely the size of his thumb.

 _Scraplet!_

The Scraplet flew towards First Aid, who had rushed to the entrance of the clinic, in an attempt to get inside. He wasn't fast enough, and the Scraplet latched onto his left shoulder and began biting through the armor. The nursebot shrieked in pain, but kept his head cool and grabbed the Scraplet, crushing it between his fingers.

He heaved a sigh, which was soon replaced by a gasp of fear. Behind him, more whirring sounds emitted by at least a hundred more Scraplets. His outcry must have alerted them of a free meal. As they began flying towards him, he shut the door behind him, hoping it would stop the Scraplets. Unfortunately, the door was made of metal as well, and it didn't take long for the Scraplets to eat through the temporary obstacle. In the meantime, however, First Aid had found a fire-extinguishing tool on a shelf, and as the Scraplets broke through the door, he sprayed the tiny pests with the cold foam. Several Scraplets fell to the floor, frozen and offline.

But it didn't stop them all. A single Scraplet escaped his counter-attack and latched onto his face, which caused him to scream in surprise. The Scraplet's attack gave its companions the opening they needed; they all latched onto him as if they were magnetically attracted to him. The impact caused him to fall on his back and drop his fire extinguisher. He flailed helplessly, partly trying to crush the vermin with his servos, partly trying to reach for the fire extinguisher.

A faint but rather clear wailing sounded from the hallway. First Aid flinched. _The hatchlings!_ The Scraplets had noticed the noise as well and half of them seemed to have completely forgotten about the large 'Bot they were feasting upon, and instead flew through the hallway. If there was one thing Scraplets loved more than living metal, it was _fresh_ living metal. Thank Primus the door was locked and non-metal…

 _PLOP!_

First Aid could neither move nor see what happened, but he heard a strangely familiar voice just above him.

"Greetings, First Aid. You seem to be in a tight spot."

It was Creop Trivem. The Scraplets ignored him, as if he wasn't even there.

"Kuh-Creop!" First Aid stammered. "Help me! Please! The hatchlings! They're—"

"Being taken care of," the dark mech ended. "For good."

The nursebot's spark made a jolt, and not just because two of the Scraplets had eaten their way through his chest, nearing his spark chamber. He stared at what little of Creop's face he could see, in an upside-down view.

"You…" he began. "What did you do…?"

"Like I said before, the hatchlings are starting to thin out. With all this war going on, there's no possible way they are going to survive to adulthood. This is merely an act of mercy. Perhaps we can try again at the next golden age…if such a thing is ever to come to this planet."

"No! You can't! These hatchlings are innocent! You can't feed them to the Scraplets! _You monster!_ "

The Scraplets on his chest had reached his spark chamber. The blue spark flickered anxiously. Because it wasn't made of metal, the Scraplets ignored it. It didn't stop them from eating through the rest of his body though. He groaned and screamed in pain, but it was nothing compared to the pain in his spark, knowing this mech was going to give the Scraplets in the hallway full access to the nursery, and to the helpless hatchlings residing in it.

And there was nothing he could do to stop them, or him.

Creop was about to leave, but then changed his mind and leaned over First Aid. His faceplate slid down and revealed a malicious smile.

"Actually, let me take care of him," he said, apparently directed to the Scraplets, as he snapped with his fingers which seemingly signaled the Scraplets to get off the nursebot. They were hovering near the ceiling around Creop, teeth still exposed, waiting restlessly for permission to continue their meal. First Aid stared; he couldn't believe his own visor.

"You… _control_ the _S_ _craplets_?" he whispered in disbelief. "But that's impossible!"

"And yet you see it, right here, right now, with your own eyes," the dark mech said eerily. "One could say the Scraplets see me as their…ah… _ruler_. _Queen_ would probably be the correct term, but I don't exactly see myself as a femmebot…" He looked at the swarm of restless Scraplets, awaiting orders.

"I'll have some fun with this guy. You go join the others. Enjoy your meal."


	2. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #1

I am _Starscream_ , former _Air Commander_ of the _Seekers_ and second-in-command of the _Decepticon_ army.

Yesterday, I was betrayed by my fellow Decepticons. Particularly that _Airachnid_ femmebot. I led her to the _Harbinger_ , a lost Decepticon ship, and in return, she wrapped me up in her _disgusting, organic_ web and left me for the _Autobots_!

Thankfully, _Optimus Prime_ decided to spare my life, in return that I led them to the Harbinger as well. I thought they might take me in, but oh, was I foolish.

I didn't take note of Prime's little assassin, the wretched _Arcee_ , one whose partner, _Cliffjumper_ , I extinguished the spark of some months ago. I _accidentally_ revealed myself as his killer, and naturally, Arcee did not take the news well. She tried to kill me!

But I managed to cleverly trick her into releasing me, and once that was done, I put my claws into her and gave her what she deserved! But she fought back, and almost had me killed, but lucky for me, _Team Prime_ 's scout, _Bumblebee_ , arrived just in time to stop her from taking my life. I escaped while they were working it out.

My wings are free of that damn clamp, and I have now announced myself an outcast. A _rogue_.

I am Starscream.

Decepticon outcast. Enemy of the Autobots.

Servant to _no one_.

* * *

 _Starscream's notes_

As I finished writing my log from yesterday, I set off to find a hideout. If I want to form my own empire, I have to start with a place to stay. And also to survive, of course. But such a thing is hard for a rogue, I now know. Finding enough energon to sustain myself, finding temporary shelter to sit out the weather.

And this is only my first day as an outcast. I know, hard, isn't it?

I fly above the treetops, scouting for any possible energon sites. I _could_ try going for the energon mines, but, well, I don't really dare to go against _Megatron_ this soon after leaving the Decepticons. So instead, I am searching for small, unclaimed sites with no _Vehicons_ nearby to bother me…

Success! I see a cliff with a very faint bluish glow. I fly down there, transform and then approach the cliff wall. Yes, I was correct. There is a slight contrast in the sand-colored wall.

I try beating the wall with my fist, but it's too solid. I then try swiping it with my claws…but naturally that only left claw marks on the wall. I'm getting quite frustrated. If only I had some tools…

Oh, silly me! Who needs mining equipment when you've got build-in missiles? I take a step back (actually a _lot_ of steps back) and fire my right arm-missile at the wall. That did the trick! Chunks of rock are flying everywhere, and behind the wall I find…

By _Primus_ , are you _joking_?! There's barely enough energon here to last a day! How am I going to…

Well, no matter. I wouldn't be able to carry more with me anyways, at least not until I find a suitable base. I enter the site and begin carving out the crystals with my claws. It's taking forever, but missiles aren't going to help here. They'd only blow up the entire place, and my energon would be gone…

"Do you always talk to yourself like this?" an unfamiliar voice says behind me.

I turn around. A tall, dark green and orange mech is standing before me. He's _really_ big, perhaps even Megatron-sized! His face is purple, covered by a faceplate, and his optics green, something not very common but not unspoken of. The strangest thing about him though is the big red pearl in the middle of his chest. I've never met this bot before, but he clearly doesn't seem to be a Decepticon. I don't believe the Autobots would have such an eerie fellow either, though. So who is he? _What_ is he? Maybe I should ask him…

* * *

"Speak up!" the ominous mech said to the Seeker. "You are Starscream, second-in-command to the Decepticons, are you not?"

Starscream flinched by the mech's powerful voice. " _Former_ second-in-command," he admitted without knowing why. Usually he'd brag about still being in charge of Megatron's military, but for some reason, this particular bot had the ability to make even Starscream tell the truth.

"I see. You're an outcast, I understand. For how long?"

"I was…betrayed yesterday. Surely Megatron did not mean for Airachnid to double-cross me, but…" Starscream shook his head and snarled. "I don't need to tell you any of this! Who are you? Speak up, or I'll fire!" He pointed his left arm missile at the stranger. He didn't seem intimidated at all by his threat. On the contrary, he seemed mildly amused.

"You're a brave one, aren't you," he chuckled.

"Well…of course I am!" the Seeker lied, the first one to this stranger.

"I was joking. I know you're a coward in nature. I know all about you. More than you even know yourself, actually…"

The mech approached the Seeker. Starscream backed away, missile still pointed at the stranger's chest, at that big red pearl which Starscream could only assume was his spark chamber. His back hit the wall and he moved his fingers threateningly. The stranger did not back off.

"St-stay away! I mean it!"

"Go on. Fire at me," the stranger dared.

The Seeker hesitated for a moment. But as the stranger was only a meter away from him, he made his decision and clenched his fist, thus firing the rocket. The outcome…was not in the Seeker's favor. The dark mech simply leaned to the side and dodged the missile with a bored look on his face. Starscream attempted to transform to get away, but the stranger grabbed his wings with a powerful grip, preventing him from switching modes. The Seeker placed his servos onto the mech's chest, trying to push him away, but with no luck.

"Wh-what do you want from me?!" the Seeker cried.

"Nothing. On the contrary, I want to give you something."

"Do I dare to ask…?"

The stranger withdrew his right arm behind his back. Starscream prepared for the worst, but as the mech's servo returned, it opened and revealed six little glowing balls, lying in his palm, all in different colors.

For a moment, Starscream forgot all about the current danger and stared fascinated at the colorful spheres. "What are those…?"

"Energon pellets," the stranger explained. "Each pellet will fuel you up for a month, and in addition will give you special abilities. More power."

Starscream stared wondrous at the pellets. Power-enducing, month-fueling energon pellets? No, it couldn't be. It was too good to be true. This mech was up to something.

"And you're giving them to me," Starscream concluded, getting pretty uncomfortable by the painful grip on his right wing, and how close the stranger had approached him. "Why? What do you want in return?"

"Didn't you hear me before? I don't want anything in return from you. All I'm asking is…use them wisely."

 _I suppose there's nothing wrong with free energon,_ Starscream thought to himself, _even if it's just a few drops..._

Starscream mustered all his courage to remove his left servo from the stranger's chest, reaching down to the other mech's servo. The energon pellets were handed over to the Seeker, and the stranger finally released his grip on the smaller mech's wing. It had gained some dents, where the servo had held it, but should probably still be flyable.

Starscream held his servos around the tiny pellets. He looked up at the large mech.

"Why are you doing this for me? Who are you, anyway?"

The stranger's faceplate slid down, revealing a thin line that made out his mouth, which turned into a smile. "Call me _Creop Trivem_."

"Uh…" Starscream wasn't sure how to respond to that. He had never heard such a strange name before, not even of human names. Perhaps it was in a special language and meant something like 'tall and dark' or 'creepy weirdo' or…

Creop Trivem switched to his alt mode, a hover-plane of sorts. This startled the Seeker, as he had not been prepared for him to leave so soon. Before he left, before Starscream could say anything, Creop said an eerie rhyme:

" _When Sol becomes a black hole,_

 _When you accept what you least expect,_

 _When the star falls and leaves a scar,_

 _When the dragon is heard,_

 _The Dark Lord shall return…_ "

And without another word, Creop took off and seemingly disappeared with a _plop!_ Starscream was left behind, baffled and quite creeped out. He looked down at the energon pellets, shining and glowing gently with inviting light.

"Perhaps one wouldn't hurt…" he mumbled to himself, took the blue pellet and swallowed it. It gave a strange but nice jolt as it passed through his body, making his wings slightly twitch.

"That was…nice. Still pretty hungry though. Maybe two more is okay…"

He took the pink and green pellets and bigger jolts went through him. He ended up jumping into the air with excitement without knowing why. This was fun!

"Ah, perhaps one more will do the trick…"

He took the yellow pellet and swallowed it. It didn't give him quite as good a feeling as the others did, but it did leave him with a tickling feeling in his spark chamber.

"Last one," he said and swallowed the red pellet, not satisfied enough to end with the yellow one's effect. This time he almost transformed, so much was he filled with energy. He couldn't believe that mere minutes ago, he was fearing for his life! What the Pit had he been so afraid of? This Creop Trivem was probably an admirer and wanted him to succeed!

He looked down at the last pellet in his palm, a purple one. This time he hesitated; it looked suspiciously a lot like dark energon. He had already tried that stuff once and it did _not_ go well. But this was refined, not a raw crystal, and probably more stable.

"Oh, what the heck," he said and swallowed it. "It's not like I have anything to lose noOOOO—"

This time he actually transformed, zooming into the sky and spinning, looping, doing all sorts of aerial tricks and WOOHOO-ing during the entire time. This was much better than regular energon! Not even a whole barrel could match the effects of those pellets!

Then Starscream remembered he had eaten them all. Scrap. Well, at least he'd be fueled for six…no wait, one month? Creop didn't specify if they all worked during the same month after use, or if to add the months up like…

"Oh whatever, it doesn't even matter! I have an entire month, at the very least, to find a base and more energon before I have to worry about feeding again! Plenty of time!"

It didn't take more than a week, however, to discover that he was completely wrong…


	3. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #2

One week has passed since I left the Decepticons. Six days since I met this stranger named Creop Trivem.

He had energon pellets which he claimed would fuel me up for at least a month, and grant me supreme power.

Well, he was wrong!

I'm more hungry now than any other time I've gone without energon! And I haven't found as much as a single shard of the slagging stuff! And as for powers? Hah! I should've known better than to trust a stranger with an... _outlandish_ name.

I fear I may have to raid one of Megatron's mines after all. I had really hoped it wouldn't come to this.

But desperate times call for desperate measures.

And I am _desperate_.

* * *

Starscream hid himself behind the boulders near one of the energon mines. Many Vehicons, both workers and warriors, were spread all over the site. While the guards were scouting for intruders, the miners scurried around, carrying large blue crystals in mine carts. The Seeker looked hungrily at the crystals.

"Alright," he muttered to himself. "I sneak in there, take out a guard or two, and then I take a crystal or two and get out. And if anyone should notice me in the meantime, then I'll—"

"AUTOBOTS!" one of the guards alarmed, making Starscream flinch.

"… _or_ I could just let the Autobots make a distraction."

From where he stood, he had an overview of the entire scene; Prime and his minions running in, taking out several Vehicon troopers…wait a second, who was that Autobot? The white and reddish-orange 'Bot who fiercely severed a Vehicon with his blade?

"Must be the Autobots' medic, _Ratchet_ ," Starscream mumbled to himself. "It can't be anyone else. But why would Prime…"

He silenced as Ratchet started chasing after a miner up the cliff. The Autobots and Vehicons were busy fighting, not sensing the world around them.

"Here's my chance!" he said and carefully sneaked down from his cover of boulders. He crawled along the cliff-side, letting the grayish-brown rock camouflage his own gray paintjob.

Nobody had noticed him so far. He came in closer, nearing a cart with a fairly large crystal. Still clear. He reached out for the crystal…

A stray laser hit the crystal, causing it to explode in Starscream's face. He let out a scream which fortunately was deafened by the explosion. Lucky for him he was far enough away to not get any serious damage to his face. He jumped back and made himself flat against the wall, hiding behind a boulder. Nobody had noticed his outburst, nor his attempt at the theft of the now-destroyed energon crystal.

He heard a scream from above. It sounded like one of the miners, and that's when he remembered Ratchet chasing that one guy. What in the name of Primus was he doing to that Vehicon?

Whatever he was doing, it was enough to get the other Autobots' attention. The other Vehicons had either fled or been destroyed, so the remaining Autobots began climbing up the wall to attend to Ratchet. This was it. It was now or never.

Starscream stormed over to the nearest unharmed cart, snatched the crystal in it – not as big as the one he _almost_ got, but an acceptable size nonetheless – and switched to jet mode with the crystal safely secured in his cockpit, zooming off into the distance.

"I did it! I DID IT!" Starscream cheered. "I can't believe I actually got hold of a crystal! Now I just need to find a place to enjoy it!"

He descended to the ground and found an abandoned bear cave near the mountains. Eating a raw energon crystal was much more difficult than simply drinking the refined form, hence the invention of refined energon.

Starscream often speculated if teeth were useful for anything besides smirking, and now he learned the true reason for their existence. He never knew chewing through a crystal could feel so… _satisfying_. He kind of liked the crunchy noises made by the metal teeth grinding the crystal to tiny shards, until they were small enough for him to swallow.

The crystal was far too quickly devoured, despite the lengthy time compared to drinking a cube. It left the Seeker with a feeling of satisfaction though, greatly decreasing his hunger.

He was about to leave again when it started to rain. Scrap.

"I really hate this planet," he said. "I'm not going to risk rusting as long as I don't have a medbay. Guess I'll just have to stay here for the night."

As a lightning stroke and thunder cracked, the Seeker crept further into the cave, crouching together in a fetal position and shut his optics. The loud sound of thunder reminded him of Megatron raging over another one of Starscream's failures, or attempts at treachery.

Slowly, anxiously, he fell into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #3

Yesterday, I learned why _Transformers_ have teeth. Since I don't have the means to refine the energon, I have to bite through raw crystals.

Though honestly, I don't really mind this way of consumption. It is very satisfying, to say the least.

The storm has settled for now, but I have a feeling I'm going to meet bigger trouble.

Alas, the crystal I consumed yesterday has slipped away like it was never there. I must find more. And _fast_.

* * *

A few days later, and all Starscream had found was a small shard which was barely even a snack. Perhaps he had to raid another mine. Maybe the last one had been abandoned by now?

He flew to the mine. There didn't seem to be any Vehicons. In return, there weren't any crystals to be seen either. They must have either taken the rest or blown them up. Either way, it meant no energon for poor old Starscream.

"No, I have to stay positive," he said to himself. "Maybe there are still some crystals left in the mine."

He went inside, and after about half an Earth-hour of investigating, he concluded the mine had been stripped entirely for energon. This reminded him of the time where Megatron learned he, Starscream, had been keeping a mine of energon for himself, which almost led to the Seeker's destruction. This happened only a few days prior to his dismissal from the Decepticons. Was there any energon left in that place, even after the entire mine had collapsed? Starscream was desperate enough to try _any_ place, any _how_.

He was about to exit the mine when he got the feeling he was being followed. He looked around but there was nothing to see.

"Must be my imagination," he muttered to himself. He transformed and took off.

Mere minutes later, he arrived at the caved-in mine. He could still see the hole which Megatron had left behind, after rescuing the Seeker from being crushed beneath the ceiling.

Well, rescued and rescued… He had first let the Seeker desperately swear eternal allegiance and loyalty to him, then waited a few more minutes to watch him suffer. Then, just before his tiny arms gave in to the ceiling's weight, Megatron had pulled him out of there and blasted his way through, with the near-unconscious Seeker in his arms. Despite the warlord's delayed rescue of the former Air Commander, Starscream was grateful that he at least had found him valuable enough to spare. Had it not been for that _psycho_ Airachnid, Starscream might actually have kept his promise of eternal loyalty to Megatron... _might_.

Starscream wondered if the hole went all the way through to the energon chamber? He peeked through the hole. It was very narrow, but if he laid down his wings on his back and crawled like a Ground Crawler, maybe…

"Nice aft, Starscream."

The Seeker hit his head against the ceiling, startled by the sudden voice. He looked over his shoulder. There was no one there.

"I must be getting mad," he said to himself, but then let out a shriek as he got pulled out and up by the leg, facing upside-down. Someone was holding him by his leg! "No! Don't hurt me, please! Release me!"

He got turned the other way, and he saw a black and orange mech, kneeling on the roof of the cave. Because he was upside-down, it was difficult to make out details.

"As you wish," the stranger said and let go of the Seeker's leg.

He hit the ground, face first. As he sat up and nudged his face, he could finally make out the newcomer. He looked almost identical to _Soundwave_ , save that he was much bulkier and had short claws instead of long fingers. That, and his orange and black paintjob, instead of Soundwave's gray and purple. Oh, and the fact that this one _spoke_. He had the same kind of chest plate as Soundwave, but whether his was a _Laserbeak_ duplicate as well was unclear. His visor was orange on his black head and the expression unreadable - much like Soundwave - but Starscream had a feeling he was smiling at him, _laughing_ at him, for being such a weakling.

"You little dweep," the Seeker snarled and switched his right arm to laser-gun mode. "Don't you know who I am? I am Starscr—"

"Yes, I just said that," the stranger interrupted. "And for your own safety, you better put down your weapon." He laid a servo on his waist, revealing a laser sword that Starscream hadn't noticed before. The Seeker laughed, unimpressed.

"What is your _tiny knife_ going to do to _my lasers_?" he asked with an angry laughter.

"Well…"

The Soundwave-wannabe pulled out his sword, swung it casually against a boulder nearby, and the laser-weapon cut through the rock like butter. Starscream gulped and reverted his gun back to arm mode.

"Alright, since this absolutely _has_ to happen to _me_ … Who are you, and what do you want from me?"

"Yes, my apologies," the stranger said. "My name is _Sideways_ , leader of a small group called the _Heralds of Unicron_."

Starscream stiffened by the name. "U-Unicron?! As in _the_ Unicron? The Chaos Bringer? The Planet Eater? The Lord of Chaos?" He suddenly remembered Creop's parting words. _The Dark Lord shall return._ And he had worn the same symbol this Sideways wore. A _third_ faction? Other than Autobots and Decepticons?

"Precisely," Sideways replied. "We are worshippers of the great and mighty Unicron. The prophecy foretells that when the 47 spheres align across the galaxy, the Dark Lord shall awaken from his sleep, and we, the Heralds of Unicron, shall serve him once more!"

"Eh…right. But what do you want from _me_?"

"Oh, nothing special. I just want to help you, is all. If I'm not mistaken, there's an energon mine beneath all this rubble?" Starscream nodded. "How about we lend you some help?"

" _We_?" Starscream repeated uneasily.

Out of nowhere, a jet descended and transformed into yet another mech. He wore the same yellow symbol of Unicron's head as Sideways, but was closer resembled to a Conehead, being black and red with a light gray face and a pair of pink optics. He smiled and nodded a greetings.

"I'm _Thrust_ ," the newcomer said briefly. "I heard something about _needing help_?"


	4. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #4

I can't believe my luck.

Two Heralds of Unicron within the same mega-cycle, and both helped me dig through the mine that had caved in not long ago, after my – ahem – _conflict_ with Lord Megatron. Can I even call him _Lord_ anymore, now that I am not a Decepticon any longer? Well, I still wear my insignia, but those are hard to get rid of…

Anyway, these two mechs, Sideways and Thrust, they managed to help me gain access to a whole week's supply of energon! Thank the _AllSpark_!

As I left them with my arms full of energon, everything suddenly turned dark around me, despite being in the middle of the day. It seemed like a solar eclipse. Haven't seen one of those for eons.

I've decided to lay low for the time being, preserve my energon and wait for an opportunity. I have currently settled down in another abandoned cave, but the weather makes it an awful hideout. I'll find something better soon enough.

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #5

I've never experienced such terrible weather during my entire stay on Earth. Three days have passed since I got help from Sideways and Thrust to gain more energon.

From my cave, I can see the dark and cloudy sky, I can hear thunder and see glimpses of lightning now and then, but I cannot see any rain. Quite strange, even for Earth weather.

Perhaps it'll settle down in a few mega-cycles.

Nothing to worry about.

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #6

A tornado is on its way. I'm not sure if my cave can handle it.

Perhaps I should go deeper in, maybe even make the cave a bit deeper.

Actually, that's a terrible idea. I'll just sit the storm out and hope for the best.

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #7

The tornado has passed. But now there's an earthquake. The ground is trembling all around me…

DEAR PRIMUS, MY CAVE IS COLLAPSING!

I GOTTA GET OUTTA HERE!

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #8

I have abandoned my cave. I brought what little remains of my energon supply that survived the cave-in. I estimate I have only two days' supply left…

I really should stop recording these logs when I should TRY TO GET THE HECK OUT OF THIS PLACE!

EVERYTHING IS CHAOS! EVERYTHING IS BEING TORN TO PIECES! IT'S AS IF THE WHOLE PLANET IS COMING APART!

LORD MEGATRON! PLEASE! HELP ME!

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #9

I just barely managed to avoid getting sucked up by tornadoes, struck by lightning and pummeled down by flying trees, but finally I managed to find a somewhat safe place to stay while these calamities are taking place.

I've settled into the Harbinger, well, what's left of it anyway. Although it is situated underground, I can hear the earth tearing up around me. I searched it and confirmed that there is no energon aboard, just like I learned the first time I was here.

But that doesn't matter to me right now. What matters is that it's sheltering me from the chaos outside.

If I survive this catastrophe, I will make this place my new hideout.

I only have one energon crystal left. I'll save it for tomorrow.

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #10

Primus be with me.

The calamities have finally settled down. No more tornadoes, no more earthquakes, no more thunder or lightning or missing rain. Everything is back to normal.

And I say that with sadness, because I am now once again without a home.

The Harbinger didn't survive the storm. It was slowly torn apart, piece by piece, until only the interior remained. Thankfully, it sheltered me long enough for the storm to settle down.

To make matters worse, however, I have just used up my last crystal.

My hunger will soon gnaw my fuel tank, I know it.

I need to find more energon. And a home.

I hope I'll meet up with some of those Heralds of Unicron again.

Maybe they can help me again.

Hopefully…

* * *

One month had passed since the natural disasters had settled down. Starscream had only found a few crystals within a couple of weeks, and each crystal only sustained him for about a day, before the hunger returned once again. This week had been the toughest by far, not finding even a single shard. His hunger was taking a toll on him, slowly draining the energon flowing through his veins instead, thus weakening him.

He had switched to jet mode, in an attempt to locate an energon mine, or perhaps the _Nemesis_. The Heralds of Unicron, even. He was so hungry that he was desperate enough to even ask the _Autobots_ for help...but no, he hadn't sunk _that_ low yet.

As Starscream flew through the sky in search for energon – or Sideways and Thrust – he wondered how things were going onboard the Nemesis.

Now that Starscream was gone, who would Megatron let out all his wrath on? Hopefully Airachnid, that glitch…

How was _Knock Out_ doing? Was he still doing experiments with _Breakdown_? Of course they were. Those two were like Autobots and humans, attracted to each other like magnets. Yuck. Sentimental nonsense. The Seeker knew that _he_ would never take a _Conjunx Endura_ , mostly because nobody liked him, let alone _loved_ him.

Nobody cared about him. Megatron hadn't even sent anyone out to search for him, as far as he knew. Starscream didn't know whether to feel relieved or concerned about this fact.

He was torn from his thoughts when a group of Vehicons flew by him, without even noting his presence. His spark made a jolt. _They must be returning to the Nemesis…_

Without hesitation, he followed them, a good distance behind so they wouldn't notice him, but close enough to find the current location of the airship. The Vehicons entered the ship's entrance, and Starscream followed close by, still without being noticed despite being right behind the Vehicons. They must have thought he was another Vehicon. Stupid drones.

He waited with going until they had disappeared from his sight, then he scurried through the hallways, stopping by each corner until he was sure no one was there. He arrived by the door to the storage room, but it was guarded by two Vehicon drones. Well, not that it was a problem. They were just _Vehicons_ after all, anyone could take those out.

He stepped out from his hiding spot and walked casually towards the guards with his hands behind his back in a superior matter. When the Vehicons spotted him, they pointed their guns at him, but the Seeker did not back off.

"Starscream!" one of the Vehicons exclaimed.

"That's _Commander_ Starscream," the Seeker corrected and approached them. "What's your malfunction? Lower those weapons _immediately_!"

The Vehicons looked uncertain at each other, then back at Starscream, weapons still pointed at him.

"I'm sorry, sir," the other Vehicon said, "but Lord Megatron ordered that you be taken into custody, should you ever return to the ship."

Starscream put on a surprised look. "What? Er, clearly there has been a mistake…"

Without warning, Starscream clawed the first Vehicon, his gun shooting the ceiling lamp, making the corridor flicker between light and darkness. He clawed the other one right through his spark chamber, instantly killing him. The other one fell to the floor, dead from his wounds. Starscream pulled out his claws, which were stained blue with the 'Con's energon.

Starscream looked at his victims. It wouldn't take long for the rest of the ship to be alert of his presence. He had to move quickly.

He grabbed four energon cubes, a decent amount, but it had to do for now. Despite the satisfaction the crystals gave him, there really wasn't anything like a good ol' energon cube. He walked out of the storage room and was about to exit the hallway when a patrol was nearing his position from behind.

 _Scrap!_ he thought and ran as fast as he could with his luggage, but he knew he wouldn't escape in time. Luckily, he found an unattended door and went through it without hesitation. He smiled. _I'll just wait here until the coast is clear, then…_

His smile faded as he saw that, not only was he not alone in the room, but the mech standing in front of him…impossible! The tall, bulky red and blue mech turned around and looked at him with his bright blue eyes.

"No!" He dropped the cubes and readied his arm-missiles at the bot. "Optimus Prime?!"


	5. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #11

Primus help me.

I have just escaped the Nemesis, and – get this – I found _Optimus Prime himself_ , onboard the damn ship, as if he was another Decepticon!

In fact, I even saw the Decepticon sigil on his right shoulder! And he now calls himself _Orion Pax_!

He didn't seem to remember me, nor even ever being a Prime, an Autobot for that matter. He said he was doing _research for Lord Megatron_ …

While I was trying to explain things to "Orion", a Vehicon patrol disturbed us, and their reactions and his showed me that he truly is on the Decepticons' side now. He did try to protect me, although rather decently and half-sparked. But he bought me enough time to transform and get out of that wretched place. But I didn't get the energon cubes I had taken from the storage room with me. I was too busy getting the Pit out of there.

Sadly, as I escaped the ship and got outside, I was shot in the rear and crashed into the woods.

I am now a sitting duck. My leg is leaking energon like crazy, and already being depleted from the stuff, I cannot afford to lose any more.

Remember how I said before that 'desperate times call for desperate measures'?

Well, this is another desperate time.

I have called the Autobots' medic, Ratchet. He's the only one who can help me right now. I need to get this wound stitched up, and in my current situation, there's nothing I can do by myself. In return for medical treatment, I have promised him important information. Surely the Autobots would want to know that their leader is now a Decepticon…

I hope he answers my call and does it soon.

I can't hold on much longer.

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #12

Thank the AllSpark, Primus and whatever roams the Earth.

Though Ratchet broke his promise about coming alone and instead brought that clumsy _Bulkhead_ with him, and despite the fact that the two of them almost left me to die – because apparently they already _know_ about Prime's situation – I managed to convince them to stay and repair me, in exchange for information regarding Megatron's newly build space bridge. I still can't believe they actually finished building that thing without _my_ supervision! How dare they?!

I also cannot believe what a lack of sympathy the Autobots have without their leader. Luckily, Ratchet got my leg patched up and gave me an energon injection. It really helped. Had I been a sentimental idiot, I would probably have said _thank you_. But why would I thank someone who almost left me to die a miserable death?

My energon worries are over for now, but it won't be long before my hunger returns. I _must_ find shelter, even if only temporary.

Now that Megatron knows I'm alive, surely he'll try to find me. Which means I have to be extra careful.

Ugh, another cave. I'm getting sick of these caves. But I have no place else to stay. This'll have to do for now. I'll end this log now, and tomorrow, I will continue my search for energon, and perhaps also a new home.

* * *

"Wake up, sleepy-head."

Someone was pounding Starscream on the helm. He woke up in a jolt and saw the ugliest robot he had ever seen. A giant insect-fish hybrid into a robot, red and yellow-striped, two mouths and two pairs of green eyes – not optics, those were definitely _organic eyes_! _Yuck!_

"What in the name of Unicron are _you_?!" he exclaimed in revolt.

"Ah, you used _just_ the right words," another, deep voice sounded. Behind the ugly insect-fish, stood a bulky blue mech, a cross between an elephant and a whale with a red visor on his face.

"Wha— _Another_ one?!" Starscream pointed his arm-missiles at the intruders. "Who are you? _What_ are you? _Why_ do I keep running into freaks like you?"

"Careful what you say," a third, cold voice sounded from the opposite side of the blue mech. It was a red and green mech, consisting of lizard and dragonfly parts, with a yellow visor instead of optics. "We are called the _Blendtrons_ , masters of devastation and chaos. I am _Drancron_."

"And I am _Rartorata_ ," the ugly insect-fish said in a rattling tone. _His name is almost as ugly as his looks,_ Starscream thought.

"And I am the leader of the Blendtrons, _Elphorca_ ," the blue elephant-whale said.

Starscream took a moment to take in the names he had just heard. Then a thought struck him. "You wouldn't happen to be part of a group called the Heralds of Unicron, would you?"

"You catch on fast, little one," Rartorata cackled. "We are specially trained assassins, and we are on a mission to find someone."

"Not me?" Starscream whimpered defeated.

"No, no," Elphorca chuckled. "We're looking for a _traitor_."

"And that is not me, _how_ …?"

"We don't give a scrap about _Decepticon_ traitors," Drancron said. "We're looking for a _Unicronian_ traitor."

"A…Unicronian…traitor?" Starscream repeated confused.

"Correct. We're looking for a bot named _Nightbird_. But then we found you sleeping in this cave here, and we thought, hey, why not invite him in on the fun?"

"Sideways and Thrust weren't exactly _thrilled_ about the recent events," Elphorca grumbled. "And neither are we. Lord Unicron was supposed to awaken from his deep slumber, but thanks to your leader, _Megatron_ , a blasphemist of the great Unicron's mighty blood, and that cursed Autobot leader, _Optimus Prime_ , Unicron remains in slumber."

"Wait a second…those calamities…" Starscream said aloud to himself. "Those were caused by Unicron? But that means…"

"Yes," Rartorata said, as if reading Starscream's mind. "The Earth's core is our Lord Unicron. He was supposed to tear this filthy piece of rock off of him and rise to glory, but instead he must continue suffering, letting all these filthy _organics_ stomp upon him with their unworthy feet! He must continue to stay in limbo, in his eternal slumber! Oh, if only there was something we could do to help our poor master…"

"We _are_ doing something, remember?" Drancron said and hit Rartorata in the back of his large head. "We're capturing Nightbird to—"

"Hush!" Elphorca said. "We're not supposed to say anything near…one of _them_." He nodded towards Starscream, who looked on in confusion.

" _Them?_ Who is _them_? I mean, who _are_ them? I mean—" The Seeker growled and rose up. "You know what? I don't care! Just leave me alone and let me search for my own energon!"

The Blendtrons stepped aside and let Starscream exit the cave. "Fine, suit yourself," Rartorata said. "Just don't let any _bears_ get to you! I hear they love eating little birds like you!" His comment was followed by an outburst of laughter among the Blendtrons. Starscream growled lowly, trying to ignore them. He transformed and took off.

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #13

My thirteenth log. Huh. Seems like only yesterday that Airachnid abandoned me to the Autobots' mercy. But it has been almost three months since I became a rogue.

I managed to gather some scraps of energon from the abandoned mines, but altogether they only lasted through a single day. I don't get where this increased hunger for energon is coming from. Back when I lived onboard the Nemesis, I drank only a single cube twice a week. Now I feel like I need a whole cube every single day, and as I don't have that much energon at my disposal, that need is quite…difficult to live up to.

Now, according to human superstition, the number 13 is the number of bad luck. Why that is, I can't even imagine. There's no such thing as an unlucky number. Only the belief of bad luck actually causes it.

And believe me, I'm having a _lot_ of bad luck lately.

I've currently teamed up with the human organization called MECH, the same fleshlings who once made off with Breakdown's right eyeball. They are like humanoid Decepticons!

Their leader, Silas, is trying to create his own Transformer, but he lacks the knowledge of Transformer _biology_. With my help, they should have a proper Transformer in no time. In return, I have (oh ever so desperately) requested them to help me in my search for energon. Until then, I have been allowed to stay at their base. I have to admit, it's nice to have some company that is neither Decepticon nor Herald of Unicron…even _if_ they are fleshlings.

Most of the soldiers aren't fond of me, naturally. Silas neither. One of them does seem a bit interested in my notes though. Perhaps he is fascinated by how advanced _Decepticon Regular_ is compared to their simple _English_ language. Or perhaps he can actually read them (how would he though?) and finds my information in here _valuable_.

Oh, Primus, look at me. Now I'm worried about _humans_ finding me competent. I really am screwed up, aren't I?

Good thing they can't read my thoughts. I pretend I have everything under control when it comes to my own well-being, but in reality…I'm scared.

I miss the Nemesis. I miss the Decepticons.

…

I miss Megatron.

I want to go home.

* * *

"Get to work," Silas commanded, as his soldiers had subdued the Seeker, who had just destroyed an important part of his research. "And make it quick!"

The soldiers had already begun drilling through Starscream's waist when one of them noticed something peculiar.

"What are those lights in his stomach?" he wondered.

"Are they his T-cog?" Silas demanded.

"Well, no, I don't think so, but…"

"Then ignore it! Get a move on!"

"Yessir!"

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #14

NO!

PRIMUS! PLEASE! NO! THIS CAN'T BE TRUE!

THOSE TREACHEROUS HUMANS! THOSE VILE BEASTS!

THEY TOOK MY T-COG! THEY TOOK MY WINGS!

I CAN'T FLY! I CAN'T USE MY LASERS! ALL I HAVE ARE MY MISSILES AND MY CLAWS!

WHAT AM I GONNA DO NOW?! PRIMUS, HELP ME!


	6. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

* * *

Starscream gasped and groaned, exhausted. He didn't stop running until he was 100% sure he was out of the Autobots' hearing, sight and radar range.

Just because he had 'accidentally' destroyed Bumblebee's T-cog, which MECH needed for their 'Transformer', the little pests absolutely _had_ to take _his_ instead! Without wings and without lasers, he was almost completely helpless, save for his claws and his arm-missiles, but he only had two of those left. Usually they just reappear by themselves, but he feared the absence of his T-cog might affect that as well. He couldn't waste his missiles, not until he could find more, at least.

And to make matters worse, his little surgery had depleted him of even _more_ energon.

"I am _never_ trusting humans anymore!" he huffed and sat down by a boulder to rest. "I'm _really_ glad none of my fellow Decepticons are here to see me in this pathetic state…"

He swallowed his words when a royal blue jet-plane soared across the sky above him. A Vehicon flier? Soundwave? _Megatron_?!

The jet ignored him, or perhaps it hadn't even noticed his presence. Seemed to be fairly common nowadays to ignore the Seeker. Either way, the jet continued its path through the clouds, probably on its way to the Nemesis. Starscream sighed in annoyance. If it wasn't for those treacherous humans, he could have followed the stranger and returned to the Nemesis as well…

"But what good would that do?" he muttered to himself. "Megatron has already made it clear that I am not welcome aboard the ship anymore. And without my wings, I can forget everything about energon cubes. I need to find more crystals."

He rose up and started to walk through the forest. The night gave life to many creepy sounds; owls tooting, wolves howling and a flock of bats flying by, shrieking. Starscream winced every time one of these sounds reached his audio receptors.

 _I really hate this place, I really hate this place, I really hate this place…_

He heard a deep growl and looked to the sides. What was that Rartorata had said about bears? The Seeker had never seen one. How big could an organic creature like a bear grow?

His question got answered right away, as a large grizzly bear walked out from between the trees, right towards him. Although it wasn't more than half his own size, it did seem pretty ferocious and much bulkier than him. The bear growled deeply as it approached him. He let out a nervous laughter.

"Please, what is a tiny organic like _you_ going to do to _me_ , a Decepticon, far more superior than a simple _fleshling_?" he said to the bear, more as an attempt to convince himself of his advantage rather than to intimidate the animal. "I have _metal_ , you have _flesh_! I could _easily_ crush you beneath my—"

He had been so busy blabbering that he unknowingly had allowed the bear to get close to him, and he first realized that when the bear swiped at the Seeker's legs. Starscream was surprised by its excessive strength, which knocked him over and made him fall on his back. The bear bit onto his left arm, and despite his big talk about 'metal and flesh', the bear's teeth really hurt and dug holes, however blunt, into his armor.

Starscream shrieked in pain and retaliated by swiping his own claws at the creature. He knocked it off him and it let go of his arm. The bear ran off with three large, deep, red bleeding wounds across the side of its body. It would either die from its wounds, or it would gain the heck of some scars.

Starscream sat up, gasping and looking after the bear, and as it disappeared from sight and sound, he looked down at his arm. A few deep blue dents, but thankfully it hadn't pierced through far enough to make them leak.

"Okay, I get it," he said to the forest around him. "I'll leave you stupid nature alone as long as _you_ leave _me_ alone!" He rose up, holding onto the wounded arm, and walked along the trees.

He eventually came to a glade, which had – he sighed – _another_ abandoned cave. No, wait, this one wasn't abandoned. The bear he had just fought was lying on the floor inside, bleeding, whimpering. Wait, the whimpering wasn't coming from the bear…

Two tiny bears peeked from behind the big bear. They were smaller than those human kids…

The mother bear glared at Starscream, growling at her cubs to stay behind her…or, that's what he assumed she said, anyway. He didn't speak bear. She didn't get up to fight him back though. Apparently those wounds he had given her were too severe. She was definitely not going to survive. Her cubs were whimpering concerned over their mother's condition and in fear of the trespasser.

He wasn't sure how to respond to this. Normally, he would laugh or spit at such sentimental nonsense, let alone _fleshlings_ …but something inside him gave him this weird feeling, something he hadn't felt in a long time, if ever… _guilt_.

It was his fault the mother bear was wounded and unable to fend for her cubs. If she died, the cubs would die as well. But that was their problem, not his. This didn't concern him…and yet it _did_.

"Ugh, what is _with_ me?" Starscream said, turning away from the moarning bears and walked away. "Is this what it feels like to be an outcast? Loneliness? Fear? Helplessness? _Sadness_? I'm sick and tired of this planet."

He was beginning to think he only said that to hide the truth…he was getting sick of _himself_.

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #16

I had to sleep without shelter last night. I was simply too exhausted, and my usual cave was occupied by a bear I had severely injured. For some reason I feel _guilty_ about hurting it.

Why? Why are all these feelings coming to me? Why now? Why, after leaving the Decepticons and living on my own?

 _Why_ am I so hungry all the time?

 _Why_ am I getting so emotional lately?

 _Why_ do I keep getting these cramps in my chest area when I least expect it?

What's happening to me…?

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #17

I found another abandoned mine and quickly consumed whatever little scraps I could find. Then, I found something interesting further in the cave.

Airachnid. And – get this – an _Insecticon_ , one of _Cybertron_ 's most feared pestilences, second to _S_ _craplets_. She seemed to be _controlling_ it, like she's its queen or something like that.

We talked about – or, well, _I_ talked about – working together to overthrow Megatron, but she decided to feed me to her Insecticon instead.

Luckily, I managed to escape alive, but I am now in the same, awkward position again, where I need Ratchet's help to survive.

I suspect he will bring along another Autobot with him.

As long as he fixes me up – once again, in exchange for some useful information – I don't care if he brings all of Team Prime with him.

I think I hear something. Maybe it's him, arriving with the GroundBridge.

I'll update the log later.

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #18

It _was_ Ratchet. With Bulkhead, once again.

Once again, they almost left me to die, but I managed to bring them back by telling them about Airachnid and her Insecticon. Ratchet gave me another energon injection, which has bought me some time before I need more of the stuff.

I, er, also _accidentally_ revealed to them that I am grounded. If it wasn't for my, ahem, _situation_ , and if it wasn't for Prime being back on Team Prime (he now remembers being an Autobot again, thanks to moir, most certainly), I'm sure they would use the opportunity to slag me and use my remains for spare parts…that is, if any of my parts were _big_ enough for any of them. Maybe a bit too big for Arcee...

Anyways, so I went to one of the energon mines the next day, and I think I heard one of the Vehicons saying that Breakdown is dead. Killed by Airachnid, most certainly. I remember the look on her face when we met in the mine. That is the face of someone who had just made a kill.

I wonder how Knock Out is taking the news? He just lost his Conjunx Endura, after all. He must be devastated…

Not that I care, anyway. After all, I don't know what it's like to be loved by some big hunk of junk. I do know what it's like to be _pummeled_ by one, though. And I _don't_ enjoy it!

Now, since nobody is listening to this other than me, I suppose I can add in a little secret…

See, while I was in the forest, after Ratchet patched me up, I found the blue bike, Arcee, all wrapped up in web, almost terminated by Airachnid.

Now, I was really mad at the spider for what she did to me before, so I fired my missiles at her, until she ran off. The fear I had about my missiles not reappearing due to my missing T-cog, well it proved to have been a pointless fear. They still appear, seconds after I launch my current missiles. So I'm not completely defenseless after all!

Ahem! Anyway, so then it was just me and the little assassin, Arcee.

I should've finished her off. She expected it, anyone would've expected it. Even _I_ expected it.

But I didn't.

I remembered how she spared my life before – though rather closely – and so I had to pay her back. I cut open the web with my claws and then left her behind in a current truce.

It was the first time I had _willingly_ spared an Autobot's life. _Saved_ one, even.

And this is, by far, my longest log to date.

I'm going out to find some energon.

I'll put the log on a break until something new happens.

* * *

Starscream was used to see energon mines by barren cliffs, but this time, he found a very unusual site – by a _waterfall_!

It was in the middle of the day, and the sun shone at the waterfall and the blue lake below. The sunrays lit up the cliff sides in an orange tone, the trees by the lake were a bluish green color, and the sunlight shining at the pure white falling water itself created a small rainbow.

Starscream stared at the scenery in wonder. It was beautiful. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen…

He shook his head. "No more sentimentality," he scolded himself. "I need to find energon."

He found out that the blue color of the water wasn't just a reflection of the blue sky; at the bottom of the waterfall lake, there were _dozens_ of blue energon crystals, illuminating the water, creating the incredible blue surface.

Starscream rejoiced. He couldn't believe Megatron hadn't discovered this site yet. There was even a small cave at the top of the waterfall cliff.

It wasn't the Nemesis, but this would make a pretty nice home.

 _Megatron must not know of this place's location,_ Starscream thought to himself. _He simply mustn't!_


	7. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #19

Never before have I been so happy in my seven million-year long life.

An energon farm. A decent, but cozy cave for a home. The sound of water splashing onto my crystals at the bottom of the lake. Hidden by a huge forest and unclaimed by anyone, even Megatron! It's almost too good to be true!

I've been living here for a week now. Other than that annoying pain in my chest which comes and goes from time to time, I'm doing pretty good. The only thing missing here is company…

The only company I have here is an eagle that comes here now and then, brown with a white head, his eyes golden like his beak. I think he has a nest somewhere nearby.

His beak is strong enough to break off small shards of energon, so I have decided to keep him as a pet. Quite useful, while I was in the state of recovery. I named him _Metalhawk_.

Metalhawk is a quick learner. It didn't take long for him to know when I wanted a snack, and he fetches the small shards whenever I tell him to. I think I'm growing attached to him.

There's still plenty of energon left in the lake, but I don't know for how much longer this place will go unnoticed by Megatron, or worse yet, the Autobots.

I'll make sure they won't have much to pillage from here, once they get here.

* * *

Metalhawk screeched, as he flew into Starscream's cave with another energon shard, just big enough to be in his palm.

"Thank you, Metalhawk," the Seeker said and let the bird rest on the back of his servo. "You birds are actually not too bad…for _fleshlings_."

Metalhawk nipped his thumb, not really hard, just in a friendly gesture. The Seeker calmly chuckled.

"You're a good boy. Now, off you go!"

The eagle left the cave and flew off with a screech. Something about that majestic bird's flight among the stars and its dominant scream appealed to the Seeker. He began speculating why _he_ was even called Starscream. Did he choose that name himself, or had somebody _else_ named him…?

"This place is beginning to get a little _too_ peaceful," he mumbled while eating his crystal. With the energon field below him, he certainly didn't starve any longer. He'd join Metalhawk in his flight if it wasn't for that _tiny_ fact that he couldn't transform.

"I can't just sit here, wallowing in self-pity," he said and stood up. "I should go out and stretch my legs."

He left the cave and jumped down by the lakeside. He would sometimes patrol the area to make sure no Vehicons or Autobots – or Airachnid for that matter – had found his current home. So far, all he had encountered were a group of wolves and a flock of birds. Well, them and Metalhawk.

But this day, it was going to be different. Starscream walked among the trees, when he suddenly heard faint voices. Low, meekly and without frequency. Humans.

Even if they were merely passersby, he couldn't risk them finding the energon cove, in case they were going to report to the Autobots' human allies. He had to take care of them.

He found the group of wolves he met the other day, pretty close to where he heard the voices. He got an idea.

"Come with me, little ones," he chuckled, picking up the wolves one by one.

He ignored the fact that they were biting his fingers, and put them down where the sound of human voices were loudest. He then kicked rocks and earth after them, herding them towards the humans. He eyed them, just as the wolves chased them off. A male, female and two children. _That's the end of their picnic,_ the Seeker thought amused to himself.

After taking care of the human problem, he returned to the cove. He stiffened as he saw a group of airborne Vehicons fly over the cove. He ducked under the cover of the trees, hoping they would continue their path.

Luck was not with him this time. The Vehicons turned around and transformed, landing by the lakeside. Starscream was still hiding behind the trees. They hadn't seen him. It was the energon they had seen. They were looking down at the many crystals illuminating the water.

"Would you look at that, Steve," one of the Vehicons said to another. "How the Pit did we miss _this_?"

"I don't know, Kevin," the other Vehicon said to the first. "But Lord Megatron will definitely want to know about this. There might be more underground."

Starscream snarled lowly for himself. They were going to dig up the cove! His _home_!

 _Shriiiiii!_

Starscream looked up in fright. Metalhawk was circling the cove and did not take note of – or maybe didn't _care_ about – the Vehicons below him.

They looked up and saw the bird. Starscream shook his head and mimed _Get out of there, you idiot!_ , but of course Metalhawk couldn't see him.

"What's that bird doing here?" one of the Vehicons said.

Metalhawk dived. He went into the water and broke a shard off one of the crystals. As he ascended into the air, the Vehicons got surprised by his action.

"Take this, you little thief!"

 ** _NO!_**

The shot was fired. The shard in Metalhawk's beak exploded, and the bird fell to the ground in front of Starscream, dead.

The Seeker stared at the dead Metalhawk in disbelief, his once pure white and brown feathers now smeared with red and black from the explosion. He felt this unbearable feeling of sadness and rage inside his chest, and it didn't only hurt from the occasional cramp, his very _spark_ was hurting badly in sorrow.

"Starscream!?" one of the Vehicons exclaimed.

The Seeker lifted his gaze, set on the Vehicon who had shot Metalhawk. All sorrow was now replaced with fury, and he didn't even care to make a comment. He just got up and stormed towards them, claws out and letting out a scream for all to hear.

The Vehicons flinched and fired their lasers at the attacking Seeker. They were lousy shots, and Starscream quickly reached them and clawed each one of them through their spark chambers, killing them instantly. All except for one.

He kept the Vehicon that had shot Metalhawk alive for a little longer. He had been knocked over and pointed his gun at Starscream, but this one simply grabbed and pulled off his arm. The Vehicon screamed in pain.

"Y-you won't get away with this, S-Starscream!" he stuttered.

" _I_ won't get away with this?" Starscream said, dangerously serious. "You will pay for what you have done. Your buddies got off _easy_. I'm not going to give you the luxury of a _quick death_. You must _suffer_." He neared the Vehicon's face with a stretched claw.

"No, please! Don't do this! SPARE ME!"

"That's not what _you_ did with _Metalhawk_ ," Starscream said eerily.

* * *

At evening, Starscream had buried the corpse of Metalhawk by the lakeside. This was the only fleshling he had ever come to like, consider as a _friend_ , an _equal_. The eagle had been the only one to ever truly care about Starscream. And now he was gone forever.

He could feel a couple of oily tears trickle down from his optics. Had he even _cried_ before in his life? He didn't think so. Let alone cry for an _organic_.

This time he didn't even feel like scolding himself for the usual _sentimental nonsense_ , he just wanted to grief over the loss of his friend.

He had continually carved into the Vehicon's body, both face, torso, arm, legs, everywhere. In the end, he had completely severed the mech's legs and remaining arm and carried the rest of him out of the forest by the head, still alive and suffering. His screams of pain had been music to his audio receptors.

He had then found a spiky rock outside the forest, in which he impaled the Vehicon's chest, causing the poor mech to scream even more in pain. The last thing Starscream did was getting the Vehicon to open a frequency for Megatron to hear, with the message "Come to the cove alone, if you _dare_ ," after which Starscream left the Vehicon to leak out and die a slow and miserable death.

He had spent the rest of the day up until now harvesting as much energon as he could bring with him, burying it in a mound near the cove to dig out later.

He wasn't much for blowing up his former home, nor for desecrating Metalhawk's grave by the lakeside, but he simply didn't have time to get the bird someplace else. Besides, he loved that place. Surely he would want to go down with it.

Starscream was now waiting behind the cover of some trees, a good distance from the cove, with a clear shot at the bottom of the lake, at the energon. As soon as Megatron would show up, he would blast the lake and hopefully, this would take out the warlord for _good_ …

The Seeker cringed when Megatron himself arrived, switched to robot mode and landed by the pile of dead Vehicons by the lakeside. He looked down at the pile and then at the energon lake.

 _This is my chance,_ Starscream thought anxiously. _This is for Metalhawk, glitch!_

"Something's not right here…" the warlord said to himself and looked to the side, opposite of where Starscream was.

The Seeker took his chance and fired the missile. Megatron looked the other way but was too slow to stop the missile.

BOOM!

Starscream quickly retreated, found the mound from earlier, dug out the remaining crystals and made off with them. Behind him, he could hear Megatron's angry roar.

Well, what had he expected, anyway? That Megatron would let himself succumb to a mere _energon explosion_? But at least Starscream had rid him off a large energon mine, because the explosion continued for various minutes. It seemed the Vehicons were right; there _had_ been more crystals underground. Such a waste of good energon…

"Seems I'll have to start over again," Starscream said bitterly, as he felt he was far away enough from the cove and Megatron to take a rest. "Goodbye peace, hello hunger."

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #20

Metalhawk is dead.

The cove has been destroyed.

I am now once again homeless, alone and on the move.

I feel even worse now than I did before I discovered that place. I'll never forget it. And I'll never forget you, Metalhawk. Rest in peace, my friend.

I attempted to kill Megatron by blowing up the cove, after one of his Vehicons brutally murdered my only friend. But, alas, Lord Megatron is still alive, the persistent glitch.

I managed to make off with a few large crystals, but they won't last longer than a couple of days.

I'm sure Megs knows it was me who tried to terminate him. After all, it's my _specialty_. Which is why I have to find a hideout as quickly as possible…

* * *

 _Starscream's notes_

I walk along in the wasteland, far from the forest and the cove. I've used up the last of the crystals I had brought along with me, and I am really tired right now.

I know I'm vulnerable out here, but I won't find more energon by staying in the forest…and I don't want to be reminded of the events that took place in there...

Wait, what's that? I see something, up ahead. It looks like a ship…

By Primus! I thought it was destroyed, gone forever!

I've found it!

The Harbinger!


	8. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #21

I'm both happy and disappointed right now.

Happy, because I have found the remains of the Harbinger, the other half of the lost Decepticon ship. This will make an excellent hideout!

Disappointed, because I've searched the entire ship, and not a single shard of energon is onboard!

I did find something else though, that was _quite_ interesting.

Protoforms. Five of them.

Not only that, but a whole selection of tools and hover-scooters, along with a mobile GroundBridge at my disposal. And an energon refiner too!

These protoforms will do nicely. I'll get back at Megatron, and then I'll strip his ship of all the energon he has!

But first, I need to give them some energon.

And what better energon than my own?

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #22

Success! The cloning was a success!

They are completely identical to me in every aspect. Good looks, sinister voices, they even have my mischievous personality and all my tragic memories.

But that's not all. I forgot that all protoforms are already outfitted with a set of internal organs of their own, so _of course_ they have T-cogs of their own. I envy them.

But, well, this is only good, I suppose. With _their_ wings, taking down Megatron should be a breeze! And after they get rid of my old master, they can take some cubes back to me. Or even better, they could take over the entire ship, and _all_ the energon shall be mine! Including that in the mines!

Brilliant! Oh, Starscream, you are a _genius_!

This reminds me of those Vehicon clones. I've never actually met the original ones, but I know they were called something along the lines of _Airstrike_ , _Landshock_ and _Minecart_. Fitting, the last one. If that's his name, anyway.

But those guys were constructed specifically for army-building, which makes them much less… _personality-filled_ , if that's even a word…

…

I really need more energon. I don't think sacrificing my own energon to make these clones was such a good idea after all, but if they can at least get me a few cubes, it will all be worth it.

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #23

AAAGGGHHHH!

PRIMUS! PLEASE! HAVE MERCY ON ME!

THOSE WRETCHED CLONES HAVE T-COGS I NO LONGER POSSESS MYSELF, AND ALL I GET IS THEIR AGONY?! HOW IS _THAT_ JUSTICE IN ANY WAY?!

AAAAOOOUUUUGGAAAAAAHHHHH!

AARRRRRRGHHHH!

MAKE IT STOP!

MAKE IT STOOOOOOOP!

* * *

The clone flew out of the ship as quickly as he could and off into the vast sky, course set for the Harbinger.

His 'brothers' had been mercilessly murdered by Megatron, and their plan to take the energon for their original had failed. He didn't know what happened to the last guy, but perhaps a guard had got him.

Megatron had offered them the chance to join him, in return that they kill Starscream. But as the ship was suddenly attacked by an armada of Insecticons, Megatron used the distraction to kill off each of his three companions, leaving only _him_ to survive.

Perhaps that thing with killing the original Starscream to join the Decepticons wasn't such a bad idea after all. After all, _he_ had a T-cog, _he_ was fresh and strong, while the _original_ was an old wreck stuck in bot mode.

 _He_ should be the _real_ Starscream, the _new_ real Starscream. Megatron's _new_ second-in-command Starscream. Yes. He liked that. Beats being a rogue.

He approached the Harbinger, transformed and landed by the entrance. He entered the laboratory where he and his fellow Starscreams were created, where the original Starscream was waiting for their return. The clone bowed in staged respect.

"Commander Starscream, I have returned," the clone greeted. "Alone, unfortunately. The others were…unlucky. But I have returned to your side, and I will forever be loyal to you…"

"Is that so?"

The clone was about to shoot his progenitor, but this one was one step ahead and blasted the clone in the chest, knocking him over. Starscream placed a ped on the clone to prevent him from getting away. He held his servo at his own chest, due to the pain he felt from their binary bonding.

"You… _knew_ I was going to betray you?" the clone said, strangely surprised.

"I feel your pain," Starscream said and pointed his missile at him. "Believe me, I really do."

BAM!

"AAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUGHHH! _Scrap_ , that hurt!" Starscream screamed as he executed his clone. He fell on the floor and held on his chest, as the cramping pain decided to join in and have a party with the clone's pain. _Awesome!_

"Guh…never again," he groaned, crawling over the dead clone. "Never… _never_ again!"

Not wanting to waste any energon, he dug holes into the corpse, but naturally he didn't leak as he was dead. Which meant he had to fetch one of his tools.

It only took mere minutes to reclaim the energon he had given to the clone. It eased up the pain a little bit, but as he didn't have the four other clones, he was still very weak from energon loss.

"I need to find more crystals," he muttered to himself, as he finished draining the clone's energon and rose up, putting the tool back in its place. "At least the mobile GroundBridge will make it easier to get out and back again."

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #24

I am _never_ making clones of myself _ever again!_

Not only did they give me pain and envy, failed to assassinate Megatron and retrieve energon cubes for me, _they are as weak and fragile as slagging Vehicons!_

This shows that _nothing good_ can ever come out of cloning!

Well, I don't need them anyway. I have my mobile GroundBridge, and now I'm going to use it to get to an energon mine. I've already found the location of the nearest one and set the coordinates on the GroundBridge.

I'll update the log when I get back, and tell you of the results.

And by _you_ , of course I mean _myself_.

Because nobody is listening to this log, other than myself.

I'll be going now. _Sayonara!_

* * *

 _Starscream's notes_

I am now exiting the GroundBridge. Oh, thank goodness it placed me behind a stalagmite. I really just hope the Vehicons didn't notice the light from the GroundBridge…

Aaaaaand now they're on their way over here. _Great!_

I move along as quietly as I can along the walls, relying on my gray paintjob to camouflage me well enough to sneak by them without getting spotted.

They haven't seen me yet. Thank Primus.

I'm nearing an unattended mine cart. There's a fairly big crystal in there. Whoever left this unattended is a fool. I'd thank him if I wasn't so pressed on time.

The crystal is too big for me to carry, even through the GroundBridge. I'll just have to take the whole _cart_ , I guess.

While I'm still unnoticed, I pull out the remote and call forth my GroundBridge back to the Harbinger. They're looking over at me. It's now or never!

* * *

"Hey! Stop, right there!" a Vehicon guard yelled and began firing at Starscream, who spent all his strength on pushing the heavy cart through the GroundBridge. Those small workers are much stronger than they look, he figured.

"Careful with that, you idiot!" a miner scolded at the guard. "You'll hit the energon and cause an explosion!"

"So long, _suckers_!" Starscream shouted and disappeared into the GroundBridge, laughing loudly.

"Scrap," another Vehicon said, not being fast enough to catch the thief. "Lord Megatron is _not_ going to like this…"

* * *

"WHAT?!" Megatron yelled into the comm. "You're telling me that you allowed STARSCREAM to get a hold of a cart _full of energon_?! YOU IMBECILES!"

He hung up and slammed his fist into the wall beside him with fury.

"Lord Megatron," _Dreadwing_ said cautiously to his leader. "Shall I send out troops to capture the traitor?"

"No," the warlord said, as he pulled back his fist from the purple-glowing wall. "We have enough trouble with the ship to worry about Starscream right now. We need to find a way to shut it down so I can regain control of it."

"Yessir!"

Dreadwing and Megatron left the command center together.

"Starscream has become rather _bold_ lately," he said, more directed to himself than to his first lieutenant. "Killed a squadron, letting one of them leak to death, then tried to extinguish my spark with a lake of energon, and now he walks right into one of my mines, grabs a crystal and leaves like he owned the place!"

Dreadwing was surprised to hear Megatron chuckle. "Sir?"

"Oh, Starscream," Megatron continued, ignoring Dreadwing. "You never cease to amuse me."

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #25

Success at last!

I managed to seize a large crystal and am now converting it to liquid form. I left a few shards behind to consume while waiting for the drinkable stuff.

Finally, _this_ is exactly what I needed! With my mobile GroundBridge, I can easily get new energon and keep my inexplicable hunger at bay.

Now, if only there was something I could do about this pain in my chest. It seems to have been a little over a month since it started. I hope it isn't anything serious. Could it be the raw energon acting up? Or... _gasp_! I really hope I haven't got some sort of Ground Crawler or energon worm! That could explain why my energon keeps draining, and why it feels like there's something moving around in there...

 _Pling!_

Ah, it's finally done! Come to Starscream…

 _Glugluglugluglug…_

 _BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

Oh, what _now?_ Can't a bot enjoy his energon in peace?

A message? For me? From whom?

 _Meet me at the cove. Nightbird._


	9. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

* * *

As Starscream exited the GroundBridge into the cove that once served as his home, he was saddened to see how… _destroyed_ it was. The once beautiful orange cliffs were torn and black from the explosion, the lake was gone and so was the waterfall, along with the cliff it had beset. The trees had been completely annihilated, and the entire cove was now more of a barren wasteland than a lush oasis in this desolate desert. Starscream took a step forward and felt something by his ped. He looked down. Metalhawk's grave. The sight saddened him even more than the area. The mound had not taken as much damage as the rest of the cove, but a significant part of the top had been blown away, and tips of the bird's withering feathers could be seen.

"So, you are Starscream, the Betrayer?" a deep, unfamiliar voice sounded.

Starscream looked around and spotted a figure in the darkness, at the remains of the former waterfall. It seemed to be a human, a muscular one for that matter, on an even bigger and more muscular motorbike. The human looked real, but Starscream could see the moonlight shine through his body. A hologram. He glanced at the bike and saw the outline of the Unicronian insignia at the front, between its yellow bike lights. That must be that Nightbird guy.

" _I_ am the one who was _betrayed_ ," Starscream replied irritated. "But yes, I am Starscream, future leader of the Decepticons- What's so funny?"

The hologram was laughing. "You're never going to be leader of _anyone_ ," Nightbird replied with a deep voice. "Trust me, I know."

"And how would you do that?"

The bike turned and made loud noises, the lights pointed at the Seeker, almost blinding him. Starscream almost knew what was about to happen, but the bright light seemed to stun him.

" _Because I will end you!_ "

A deafening whirr-noise, lights turning off thus delaying the Seeker's sight in the darkness, and in a short moment, the bike had jumped into the air – the hologram disappeared – and transformed into a sleek mech who knocked Starscream over and stood on his chest to prevent him from standing up again. When the mech spoke again, 'his' voice had gained a slightly lighter tone, indicating it was a femmebot instead.

"Who – who _are_ you?!" Starscream exclaimed under the bot's surprising weight despite being about the same size as himself. "What do you want?!"

"I am Nightbird," she replied and raised an arm; she seemed to be holding a dagger of some sort. "Ex-Unicronian and professional assassin. I am here to collect my quarry – _you_!"

Starscream let out a scream as she was about to strike him – but he was surprised not to feel any pain, and to still be conscious. He looked up and saw that she was gone. Instead, he heard loud groaning and shouting from a fight. He could hear bits and pieces of dialogue.

" _Get out of my way! Let me do my job!_ "

" _Never! We will not allow you to harm him!_ "

" _He's too important to let a lowly criminal like you destroy him!_ "

"Hey, are you alright?" someone said above him. He looked up. It was still hard to see, but he recognized the orange blurry parts as Sideways, who was holding a servo out in front of him. The Seeker took his servo and got back on his peds.

"Y-yes," he replied, still shocked over what had just happened. "How—"

"Later. Right now, we have to get you to safety."

Starscream looked behind him, and as his vision began returning to him, he saw Nightbird fighting singlehandedly against the Blendtrons, who all were blocking her path to Starscream and Sideways. Thrust was nowhere to be seen. He noticed the Blendtrons were in their alternate modes, all Fuzors, like an orca-elephant, a lizard-dragonfly and a lionfish-hornet.

Sideways pulled the Seeker's arm, encouraging him to follow. As he didn't seem to have any choice, he complied and followed the orange mech. As they had moved a good distance from the battle scene, Sideways switched to plane mode, which was identical to Soundwave's, except having more wing at the front.

"Come on, quit dawdling and transform!" Sideways ordered the Seeker.

"I can't," he replied.

Sideways reverted back to robot mode and faced him. "Oh, right. I forgot you lack a body-part now."

Starscream was about to ask him how he knew, as he hadn't met with any Heralds since before he lost his T-cog. But Sideways silenced him by grabbing both his arms tightly.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting you out of here. Hold on tight!"

Before Starscream could respond, the world around him suddenly swirled and pulled him forward with such speed, that it felt like his limbs were being torn from his body. He wanted to scream, but nothing came out – he couldn't even move at all. He could barely make out Sideways other than a blurry orange-black shape in front of him. Then suddenly, everything went still, and Starscream was about to fall over but was caught in the last second by Sideways who was still holding onto him. The Seeker looked behind him and realized he was standing on the edge of a cliff in the canyon. Had Sideways not caught him, he would have fallen and turned to scrap, _thank you so much, MECH,_ he thought angrily to himself.

"Are you alright, Starscream?"

It was still late evening, so they couldn't be too far from the cove, apparently. Starscream turned and looked at Sideways. "I'm fine," he replied. "But why—"

"We can't dawdle all night. Nightbird—"

"WOULD YOU JUST LET ME TALK FOR A MOMENT?!" Starscream yelled, sick of being interrupted all the time. Sideways silenced and looked at him, waiting. "I…was almost slag—I mean, I had _everything under control_ , and then you Heralds of Unicron just barge in and take me away without telling me why or what the _Pit_ is going on here! Why the FRAG was that femmebot trying to slag me? Normally they don't try to kill me _before_ we get to know each other! And why won't you _imbeciles_ ever tell me what your deal here is?! Yes, I heard from those 'Blendtrons' that you're looking for 'Nightbird', but why is _she_ after _me_?! WHY CAN'T EVERYONE JUST LEAVE ME THE FRAG ALONE?!"

He paused and gasped, feeling a burden of tension inside him having just left his body. Sideways took his chance to speak.

"I can understand why you're upset. You got betrayed by your fellow Decepticons, reduced to a lowly outcast, scavenging for the smallest, most miserable scraps of energon just to survive. For some reason, you've been inexplicably hungry these last few months, not to mention rather… _hysterical_. You're confused, I get it. You don't know what's going on here. I will…look past the rules we made when we arrived here, and…I will try to answer your questions as well as I can. So…ask away."

Starscream stared hesitantly at the mech for a while. He had so many questions, but which one was most important?

"Why am I so hungry all the time? Why do I get these cramps in my chest?"

Sideways held a servo on his helm. "I'm afraid I can't answer that. It's something you have to find out yourself. Rules," he added, as the Seeker was about to protest. "All I can say is…it's going to change your life."

"Fine…" Starscream thought – mildly concerned about the answer – for a while. "Then, why is Nightbird after me?"

"Ah, yes. See, the Blendtrons, they explained to you before that we are looking for a traitor, right? Well, that traitor is Nightbird. She betrayed the legacy of Unicron, because…she's trying to change the future."

"The…future?" Starscream repeated confused. "Why would she do that…?"

Sideways scratched the backside of his head, apparently trying to figure out how much to tell the Seeker. "Okay, I know I'm not supposed to say this, but…we, the Heralds of Unicron – and Nightbird – are from the future."

Starscream stared at him. "This is a joke, right? Transformers from the future? Arriving in the past? How is that even possible? You got me there, heh-heh…"

But Sideways didn't laugh. This made Starscream's smile fade. "You're serious? Really? But that's _impossible_! How can _anyone_ travel through time?!"

"It is difficult, I have to admit," Sideways replied casually. "But knowing the right people…it is _very_ possible. Nightbird arrived here, in the past, to change the way the future is. And to do that…she has an idea it includes eliminating you."

Starscream gulped inwardly. _What are you so afraid of?_ a voice inside his head asked. _She's barely the size of Bumblebee, you can handle her just fine. No need to worry._ "Why…would she think that?" he asked, trying not to sound like he cared.

Sideways shrugged. "Who knows? But either way, we can't let her change the past in any way. Killing an organic, a Cybertronian or destroying an area, even the tiniest change could cause great disaster in the future. Maybe there won't even _be_ a future. Either way, from the future, Master Unicron has sent me, Thrust and the Blendtrons to stop her from changing the past. But, well, it's too late already, since you've seen us, we've interacted with you, and I…well, told you we're from the future. But that's beside the point here. Little things like revealing you're from the future, that's not really important once you get to know the people from the past. No, we're talking about actual _removals_ or _additions_ to the timeline. Such as your destruction. We can't have that, now can we?"

"Well…of course not!" the Seeker replied eagerly. "I want to – I _need_ to survive! But, back at the cove, the others said I was 'too important' to let destroy, didn't they? Surely if I didn't have a major impact on the future, then you wouldn't bother…?"

"Yes, no, that's where I can't talk. See, I can tell you we're _from the future_ , but I can't tell you _what happens in the future_. Because if you know what happened – or rather, _will_ happen – then it won't happen, because you know it will happen and then something different will happen, thus the old happening won't happen. Get it?"

"Uh…sure," Starscream replied, not actually following. "Okay, so stay away from Nightbird from now on. Got it. And I guess that also explains why you're trying to protect me…I guess. But…" He suddenly remembered where they were and looked around. "Hey, what just happened before? How did we end up here, in the canyon, when we were just at the cove?"

"That, I _can_ tell you," Sideways said, somewhat eagerly. "See, I have the ability to warp. I can warp through time and space, at a minimal distance, that is. And no, _I_ am not the one who got us here to the past. Someone else did. Someone…we all meet at some point."

 _Primus?_ Starscream thought in his mind. "Then, how come you didn't—" He silenced. He almost revealed his hideout at the Harbinger. No one was supposed to know where he lived, that would break his security! He quickly changed it to: "H-how come you knew I was in trouble? And where to find me?"

"Well, the Blendtrons were checking in on you, in the Harbinger. Yes, we know where you live," he added by seeing Starscream's horrid look. "How do you think we've been able to find you in the past? No pun intended. Anyway, so the Blendtrons checked on you in the Harbinger, and of course you weren't there. They thought you might have gone out to find energon, but there was a whole tank filled with the liquid stuff. Then they found a tape recorder that was still going."

 _I forgot to turn off my log?_ Starscream thought concerned, not remembering ever ending the log, actually.

"They then played the recording back, and that's when they found out you had gone to the cove to meet with Nightbird. They then contacted me, and I immediately warped in and brought us to your location."

"So you know the location of the Harbinger," Starscream repeated. "Then why didn't you just warp me there instead of up here on this _rock_?"

"I would have, but I didn't want to risk it with _her_ in the area. She could have caught up to me and gone with us, and even if we'd have gone there without her, she can still track my latest warp locations. She has an interesting tracking system, that little assassin. She can track all sorts of energon at any given distance, and she can even detect warping patterns and where a GroundBridge has been. But she won't be able to detect you from up here at this distance, so now you can safely open a portal and return to your ship."

The way Sideways ended the conversation indicated he expected the Seeker to leave right away. But Starscream hesitated. "How do I know you're not lying and will follow me when I do open the portal? You leave this area first, then I will too."

"Please trust me on this one. I need to make sure you're home and safe, before I can regroup with the others. This is for your own safety."

"I'm not buying that. Why should I trust you when you don't trust me?" _Not that I blame him,_ he thought. _Nobody should trust me._

The two stared intense at each other for a long moment. To Starscream's surprise, Sideways walked backwards, until he was on the other side of the cliff. " _Now_ will you believe me and leave?" he shouted to him.

Starscream hesitated, but then pressed the button and activated his GroundBridge. It appeared right behind him, where there wasn't any ground underneath. He watched Sideways carefully as he jumped through the GroundBridge, back to the Harbinger. As he arrived back in the ship, he quickly pressed the button again, shut the bridge down and sighed in relief.

"That's enough excitement for tonight, Starscream," he said to himself.


	10. Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

* * *

Starscream was about to continue drinking his energon tank, when his gaze fell on the tape recorder on the table by the instrument panel. Perhaps the energon could wait until he had documented the event in another log entry. He picked it up and was about to enter another entry when he remembered what Sideways had just explained to him. If he had left the tape on when he left the ship, and the Blendtrons had been there and listened to his log… _gasp!_ Who knows what they might have found out?!

He played the log back to entry number 25.

" _Starscream's log, entry number 25. Success at last! I managed to seize a large energon crystal…_ "

Starscream listened to the recording until it ended where he thought he had turned it off.

"* _Gluglugluglugglug*… *BEEP! BEEP! BEEP*! Oh, what NOW? Can't a bot enjoy his energon in peace? …A message? For me? From whom? 'Meet me at the cove. Nightbird.' *sigh* I guess that means I'll have to wait with my energon consumption. *TSHOORR* *clak* *clak* *clak* *TSSSWWOOOM*_ "

 _So now I have arrived in the cove. That must mean…_

" _Hey, Scream! Are you there?_ "

" _The joint's empty, Drancron, of course he's not here. Probably out getting some energon._ "

" _Unlikely, Rartorata. Look, he's got a tank full of the stuff. Probably just got back from a successful raid or something._ "

" _Then where IS he? He's not been kidnapped or anything, has he?_ "

" _BY UNICRON, WHAT IF NIGHTBIRD GOT HIM AND DESTROYED HIM ALREADY?!_ "

" _Don't be silly, Rartorata. If he was dead, we wouldn't be here._ "

This made Starscream tilt his head in curiosity. _So they are merely protecting me to ensure their own safety. Now it makes sense… Wait, no, it still doesn't explain WHY…_

" _Hey, look at this! A tape recorder!_ "

Starscream stopped thinking and concentrated deeply on what was being said.

" _Looks like he left it here. And that forgetful fool forgot to turn it off. Perhaps it'll tell us where he went…_ "

" _Wait, don't turn it off yet! Let's give him a message before we find him!_ "

" _Uh, okay. Hey, Starscream! When you're listening to this recording, know that we've found a few things on the ship that might help you with your…problem. *TSCAH* And, um, you don't need to worry about that guy, we've taken care of him for you._ "

Starscream turned and looked at his deceased clone. His waist had been torn up, and – he gasped – a shiny golden T-cog was lying on the floor beneath him. _Well, I guess I don't have to get my claws dirty then._

" _Look, we just want to tell you…if you're planning on getting your wings back, you should save the energon you've collected here. You're going to need it afterwards. That's all. Bye!_ "

The log entry ended there.

Starscream walked over and picked up the T-cog, looked at the clone and smiled maliciously, and placed it on the table next to some tools he hadn't seen before. Scalpels, drills, all sorts of equipment for… _surgery_.

He stiffened. Did they expect him to replace his T-cog all by himself?

It wasn't like he had any choice. Apparently none of the Blendtrons were familiar with surgeries, otherwise they would have offered him help…or perhaps they actually didn't care. Either way, he was on his own. The only thing he knew about surgery was one time when he had dissected an Autobot, during his 'scientific career', so to speak. He had been fascinated by seeing all the organs inside a Transformer body, including the spark chamber, the voicebox, the fuel tank and of course the transformation-cog. But was he really skilled enough to perform _self surgery_?

"Guess we're about to find out."

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #26

Tonight was such a hectic event.

Firstly, I was interrupted in my energon drink by a message from this Unicronian – sorry, _Ex_ -Unicronian – assassin named Nightbird.

Secondly, she was trying to frag me.

Thirdly, the Heralds of Unicron showed up and _saved_ me! And here I thought they were messengers of chaos and evil and what not. Not that we Decepticons aren't evil, but Unicron is, like, _really_ super-bad.

Fourthly, I found out that Sideways and the others are actually _from the future_! As in, a place where things are yet to happen-future! _How is that even possible?!_

But Sideways wouldn't tell me anything, other than useless stuff like Nightbird wants me dead because apparently I have a major impact on the future somehow, _but he won't tell me HOW_!

Well, and then I also found out that I left my last log open, and you may have noticed that someone else added to that entry. Those were the Blendtrons. Apparently they believe I will perform self surgery, to install my new T-cog.

Other than that one Autobot I dissected eons ago, I know next to nothing about surgery, let alone doing it on _myself_!

But, oh well. Such is life, I guess. You live and you learn.

I was going to drink the rest of the energon right away, but apparently those Blendtrons think I should save it for the surgery…

I don't really want to do this, but I really miss flying. My wings are getting all stiff from not getting used – I might end up forgetting _how_ to fly!

Ugh, I guess I have no choice then.

I'm not sure if I'm going to survive this, but I have to take the risk.

I can't remain in this state forever. I have the tools, the T-cog and the energon, and despite tonight's tensions, what with raiding the mine and almost getting killed by a motorbike, I don't feel tired yet. Why not now?

I will update the log if I survive.

If you don't get an update…it was nice talking to you.

And by you, I mean myself.

Goodbye.

* * *

Starscream spent the next mega-cycle preparing for the surgery. He lined up the tools on the instrument panel along with the T-cog. The monitor above was turned on, showing a model of the Seeker himself and his vital signs. The energon tank was right next to it all, ready for use. The recharging table - which he remembered he hadn't actually used yet due to the recent events - was tilted and positioned for use as a surgery table.

"Ener-stat. Cross-clamp. Laser scalpel. Durabyllium drill. And, one slightly damaged but operational T-cog, courtesy of my traitorous clone," he listed and grabbed the drill. "Everything I require to make myself whole."

He laid down on the tilted recharging table, now surgery table. "A simple, painless procedure…" He pressed the button on the drill, which started to spin with a whirring sound that made the Seeker anxious for what he was about to do.

"Nothing to it, really…" He pointed the drill at his chest and started lowering it. "Provided one possesses the nerve…" He mustered all his willpower to not shudder while the drill was a mere inch from his chest. _This is a really bad idea,_ he thought, closed his optics and prepared for the pain…

 _BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

Starscream was startled by the computer's alarm. He eagerly removed the drill from his chest to find out why the alarm had been set off.

Four signals appeared on the monitor. They were Decepticon signals.

"Four detachments of Decepticons, GroundBridging to four different continents at the exact same time? Huh," the Seeker mumbled, then smiled relieved. "Procedure postponed."

* * *

He went and fetched the remote for the GroundBridge and turned it on. Perhaps it was too soon to leave after having just returned, but he had to see what the Decepticons were up to. Megatron doesn't just scatter his forces for mere entertainment. Maybe they had found really large energon deposits? Or perhaps something bigger?

He had set the coordinates on the signal coming from the Antarctic. At least there he wouldn't be found by Nightbird or the Heralds of Unicron. _This would take forever to walk to,_ he thought. _Even if I had my T-cog, it would take several mega-cycles. This way, it will take mere seconds to get there._

"Ahh, a remote control for the GroundBridge," he said, cherishing his beloved device. "I _love_ Decepticon scientists!"

He looked at another piece of technology that he hadn't tried out yet – the hover-scooters. "At least this will be faster than _walking_."

* * *

Mere seconds later, Starscream exited the GroundBridge on his hover-scooter and was almost blinded by the bright light from the day-sky and the white snow. Although it was indeed faster than walking, it was still slower than flying and definitely did not look as cool.

 _This is so humiliating,_ he thought while driving through the snowland. _I hope the Decepticons won't see me in this pathetic state._

He hadn't taken account for how cold it would be in the Antarctic. Normally his jet mode would fly at such a speed that it would heat him up enough to not get frozen. This time, however, the pace was much slower, and the cold wind was freezing his thin limbs, despite only having just arrived there.

" _Brrrrrr,_ " he snarled. "I _despise_ this planet! If it isn't a _scorching desert_ , it is a _frigid wasteland_!"

He drove on a little longer, looking from side to side. There were plenty of light blue glacial crystals and ice walls, but there was no energon to be seen anywhere. Perhaps Megatron _wa_ _s_ looking for something bigger than energon?

"Now, where are you, my Decepticon brethren…?" he said and held a servo above his optics to get a better view.

His question got answered right away, as two Vehicon fliers passed him from above.

 _Scrap!_ he thought. _Please move on, please move on, please move on…_

Luck was not with him this time. The Vehicons had spotted him this time – not that hard a job, giving that his gray paintjob stood out here in the white landscape. They turned around and began shooting after him.

Likewise, Starscream did a U-turn and worked the hover-scooter overtime, whilst trying to escape the Vehicon attackers and avoid the large chunks of ice collapsing around him, caused by the Vehicons' lasers.

 _This was a bad idea, this was a TERRIBLE idea, Starscream you IDIOT!_ "AHHH!"

He let out a scream as three more Vehicons showed up in front of him – wait, that one in the middle wasn't a Vehicon. This guy was much bigger and a different color scheme and model than the Vehicons. Deep in the back of his memory, he recognized the plane from the night he lost his T-cog. The Decepticon hadn't seen him back then, but there he had had the cover of a forest and the night. Here, it was in the middle of the day and the Seeker was out in the open. Things didn't look so good for him.

Starscream kept on driving, zigzagging to avoid their lasers, but the hover-scooter wasn't nearly as fast as the jet-planes.

"FASTER, YOU PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR TRANSPORTATION!" he shouted at the poor scooter which was already straining itself above its limit.

While still shooting, the large jet flew over Starscream; the tailwind was so powerful that it knocked the Seeker forward and off his scooter, which crashed into the frozen snow, broken. Starscream did a few front flips in the air before landing face-first, then still.

 _Urgh, not now, please!_ he thought as the unbearable cramping returned to his chest area, making him unable to move at all, not even crouching to ease the pain.

The four Vehicons landed in front of the near-unconscious Seeker, switched modes and pointed their laser guns at him. The cramp finally settled and Starscream got up on all four with a groan. He shook off some snow from his neck and looked fiercely at the Vehicons, in an attempt to hide his fear.

"Decepticons!" he shouted. "Do you not realize you have just shot down _your ship's commander?!_ "

Someone landed behind him. He looked behind and let out an exclamation as a large blue mech identical to _Skyquake_ stood before him. He had the Decepticon _Elite Guard_ sigil on his chest.

"You command no one," the stranger said. "Deserter!"


	11. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

* * *

 _Starscream's notes_

An interesting turn of events. And frightening.

I have been captured by Dreadwing, twin brother of Skyquake, who is apparently Megatron's _new_ first lieutenant. Seems I was easily replaced after all… _sigh_.

He doesn't know I can still write down notes even when cuffed. Don't ask me how, I just can! I guess I do it in the back of my head, I don't know any longer! Ugh, maybe I should just change the title to 'Starscream's stupid thoughts' instead…

Anyway, Dreadwing put me under arrest and stasis-cuffed me. He says he's going to take me to Megatron for a…gulp…proper punishment. I really don't want to meet Megs right now. I wish I had stayed home at the Harbinger. Good thing they don't know about my GroundBridge remote, because otherwise I'd be in _really_ big trouble!

They don't seem too busy getting back to the Nemesis just yet, though. Maybe they _are_ looking for something. Perhaps I should ask them, just to lift this awkward silence. After all, everyone _loves_ to strike a conversation with me!

* * *

"Commander Dreadwing," Starscream said as they were walking through a ravine. "This must be a _very_ important mission, if Megatron has dispatched his… _second-in-command_. Scouting for energon? Or something else altogether?"

"That is none of your concern," Dreadwing replied coldly while concentrating on the radar in his servo, scanning for something.

"If I knew what you were looking for, perhaps I could _help_." He let out an exclamation as one of the Vehicons prodded the Seeker's back with his gun, getting annoyed with his talk. _Thick-headed morons,_ he thought angrily.

After several cycles, the small group arrived at a dead end. Though, actually, it wasn't completely 'dead' after all, because a red flag had been planted in the snow by the wall.

"We have arrived at the coordinates," Dreadwing announced and looked from the radar to the red flag in disbelief. Behind the flag was a hole in the wall, shaped in a peculiar way as if something used to be there. "The relic…it has been taken!"

"Relic?" Starscream repeated in confusion. "What sort of relic?"

Dreadwing ignored the smaller Seeker. "Search the area!" he commanded the Vehicons, who immediately scattered and left the two Seekers behind.

 _And how come HE can order them around like he's Megatron, while_ I _never get the respect I deserve?_ Starscream thought angrily and jealously. _What does this guy have that I don't? Sure, he's a lot bigger than me, and he has a T-cog, but besides all that?_

"Commander Dreadwing," one of the Vehicons reported, "we have discovered vehicle tracks!"

"The Autobots…"

"Perhaps," Starscream went in. "Though I've never known them to plant flags at the side of their victories."

Dreadwing did not find his sass funny. He grabbed the smaller Seeker and lifted him above ground.

"Do not try me, traitor! I will leave your lifeless husk in this frozen waste."

Before he could do such a thing though, the sound of driving reached their audio receptors. Behind them, a large red truck was driving towards them at high speed, unusual so for an Earth truck. Dreadwing dropped Starscream on the ground and walked towards the incoming vehicle.

"You two," he said to a couple of Vehicons, "guard the prisoner."

The truck transformed into the Autobot leader, who too walked towards Dreadwing. He stopped as the two other Vehicons stepped up at each side of their sub-commander.

"Optimus Prime," Dreadwing greeted the newcomer. "I will request only once that you surrender the relic."

"I was going to request the same of you, Dreadwing," Optimus replied calmly.

Starscream watched the scene with thought. _So neither Dreadwing nor Optimus has this 'relic' they speak of? Where could it be then? And what is it…?_ He lifted his cuffed servos, as if to say something, but the Vehicon next to him poked him with his gun, enticing him to stay put. Starscream glanced at the red flag in speculation. _If neither the Decepticons nor the Autobots have the relic, then it can only mean one thing…_

"Then I would say we are on equal footing," Dreadwing replied, "were it not that there are _five_ of _us_ , and only _one_ of _you_."

" _Six_ ," Starscream corrected and wrangled with his cuffs, "if you'd relieve me of these ridiculous manacles!"

Nobody said or did anything for a long time. The two of them just stared at each other, the Vehicons waiting impatiently for orders and Starscream waiting anxiously for something to happen.

 _I REALLY should have stayed behind in the Harbinger,_ the Seeker thought.

* * *

 _Starscreams_ _stupid thoughts_

Another interesting turn of events. Though not any more favorable than the last one.

Dreadwing and Optimus Prime had battled fiercely – Prime made short work of Dreadwing's sidekicks – while my guards stayed put. That is, until the two combatants moved the fight further down the ravine, followed by Prime burying Dreadwing underneath an avalanche. We walked down and found Optimus coming out from the dust cloud.

While the Vehicons were busy shooting after him, I pulled the one closest to me in front of the other one, thus making the latter shoot the one I used as a shield. Afterwards, Prime took care of the other guy.

I thought that since I had saved him now, Prime would free me from my stasis cuffs, but apparently he believes I have not been strained enough. I offered my help, but he simply threatened me to lead him to the relic anyway.

Hmph. From one captor to another. He didn't even say thank you! How rude!

We're now searching for that relic. Whatever it is, it must be important. It's also rather chilly because of this raging blizzard, and having that big gun aimed at my back doesn't help ease my anxiety!

* * *

"Be reasonable, Prime," Starscream said after having walked for almost half a mega-cycle. "This cold will freeze both our actuators!" He shuddered to emphasize the point.

"The current temperatures are not extreme enough to affect our biology," Optimus pointed out. "You'll be fine."

 _Well, at least he cares THAT much,_ the Seeker thought irritated. "Fine, but _miserable_! And I cannot believe that you'd take our alliances for granted, after all I have done for the Autobots! Helping to restore your _memory_ , saving Arcee's _life_!" He looked at the Prime for a reaction.

"While you have at times proved _beneficial_ to us, it has been to only further your _own_ interests."

' _Further my own interests' my exhaust port!_ Starscream thought insulted. _If only he knew what I have been through these last few months! …No. I can't point out my vulnerability to him. That would be foolish and pathetic. I gotta play it cool._

"Well…we can't _all_ be as selfless as _you_ , now can we?" he snarled sassily instead, thus ending the conversation, moving on in silence. Inside, he was still raging at full power. _My selfishness is what has kept me alive so far. And having saved Prime back there, only to have him switch places with those Vehicons, proves that nothing good can ever come out of selflessness! Nothing but pain, sorrow and REMAINING CAPTIVE!_

Several cycles later, they arrived at a crater. It was now evening here as well – either that, or the blizzard was simply sucking out all light from the sky. On the far side of the crater resided a camp with the lights turned on.

"Aha," Starscream said triumphantly as they stopped to observe the site. "As I suspected. _Humans_. We will find the relic here. So, let us reclaim what is rightfully ours…"

Optimus pulled Starscream back, making him let out a yelp of surprise.

"We cannot simply enter a human facility to search for Cybertronian relics," Optimus said firmly.

"Not even if they _stole_ it?" Starscream asked in disbelief.

"Nor can I expose innocent humans to a dangerous _Decepticon_!"

Starscream snorted insulted at the last part. _When I get out of these cuffs, you're gonna GET IT, Prime!_

* * *

About a dozen cycles or so – at least, that's what it felt like – passed, with Starscream wandering restlessly back and forth while they waited for the humans to evacuate the area, per Optimus' request. What a waste of time. Why did everyone care about humans so much, yet nobody cared even a _tiny_ bit about _him_? _He_ was the one living a Pit life as a rogue without the ability to transform! Where were _his_ supporters?

 _Probably off "looking for Nightbird",_ he thought annoyed.

Despite what Prime had said before about them being fine with the temperatures, the Seeker was neither as robust nor as well-energized as the Autobot, and he felt like he was about to turn to ice. This, along with the fear of Dreadwing returning, made the Seeker very anxious and impatient.

"Are we _really_ going to wait out here in the freezing cold, completely at the mercy of _human bureaucracy?!_ " he snarled. He kept thinking about MECH and how they stole his T-cog.

But just then, a group of helicopters went to the air and left the base. Optimus pushed Starscream forward, and they went down to the base.

And there it was, in the hangar. The relic. Trapped in ice. Starscream was about to take it when a familiar voice sounded behind them.

"I knew you were of questionable honor, Starscream," Dreadwing said as he entered the hangar, having survived the avalanche. "But aiding the _Autobots_? That is a _capital_ offense."

"What?" Starscream exclaimed despairingly while trying to think of an explanation. "But I…I left… _tracks_ for you! On _purpose_! So you could _rescue_ me from my _captor_!"

"Dreadwing," Optimus said, and Starscream stepped aside to let the big 'Bot step forward. "I cannot allow you to leave here with this relic."

"I know that, Prime," the blue Seeker replied and pointed his cannon at his foes. "But I do not intend to give you a _choice_."

The two large mechs began fighting again, fiercely. While they distracted each other – and no one was paying attention to the smaller Seeker – Starscream went over to the frozen relic and checked it out.

"Given all the fuss," he said to himself, "this relic must be truly special."

He started beating his stasis cuffs on the ice block, this way to both release himself _and_ break the relic free at the same time. He cackled excitedly with each beat. As an explosion sounded from outside, he beat a few more times on the ice, and though his cuffs were still whole, the ice had broken and the relic was now free.

"Armor," Starscream said breathlessly as he picked up the relic, "of _Decepticon_ origin."

He placed the relic on his chest and watched as it immediately began transforming itself into a solid armor surrounding his torso and limbs. He watched gleefully as the armor tore the stasis cuffs into pieces, thus finally freeing his servos. The transformation continued, until the Seeker was completely surrounded by a large, thick, protective armor which made him feel much bigger than even Megatron. And he possibly was, as he jumped through the roof with incredible power and landed before Dreadwing and Optimus, who both looked like Mini-Cons at his current size.

"The _Apex Armor_ …" Optimus said in disbelief.

Starscream gazed at his new look. "A perfect fit!"

"You dare to claim what rightfully belongs to Lord Megatron?" Dreadwing shouted and took his battle stance.

Starscream merely laughed. "And what do _you_ intend to do about it… _commander?_ "

Dreadwing stormed towards the Seeker. He swung his sword at the chest, but it merely bounced off. The Apex armor didn't even flinch, and not even a blunt had marked it. Starscream brushed the hit area and laughed maniacally, then simply swung his arm and swiped the attacker away.

"Not so big and strong _now_ , are you?" he mocked. "I haven't had this much fun since I punched that hole in Cliffjumper!" He went over, picked up a bulldozer like it was a toy and prepared to throw it. "Allow me to reunite you with your _beloved twin!_ "

But he hadn't paid attention to Optimus, who rammed the Seeker and made him lose his grip of the bulldozer, which now went flying and almost hit Dreadwing, who – unfortunately, Starscream thought – just managed to roll away in time.

"And _you_ , Optimus Prime…" Starscream grabbed the Autobot leader's fist and began squeezing it, causing the big – wait, _small_ – 'Bot to fall to his knees, trying to release his pained fist. "I will beat the living spark out of you, just so I never again have to endure your _pontificating!_ " He ended his monologue by throwing Optimus into some containers.

Dreadwing shot at the armor and then continued attacking by swinging his sword at him, but Starscream merely pushed him away like before. The blue Seeker landed in the containers next to Optimus.

The two of them seemed to be talking lowly together, but Starscream was too busy being in his own world to care about what they were saying. _This will make everything so much easier! Raiding Megatron's energon mines will be as easy as slagging a Vehicon! If only I could reach my remote from here…_ "Well, that can wait," he said lowly to himself as he walked towards them, chuckling. "I have some pests to slag…"

Dreadwing handed something over to Prime, then transformed and went into the air, proceeding to shoot at the Apex Armor, which once again proved futile. The Seeker jumped into the air and punched the other Seeker down from the sky. _What a pathetic attack,_ he thought mockingly.

"Might beats flight," he said ecstatically as Dreadwing reverted back to bot mode. Then Optimus pounced onto his back but was quickly thrown off again.

" _You_ should be the one to join with the AllSpark," Dreadwing said while holding a device in his right servo, something which Starscream recognized as a detonator.

A fast, loud beeping sound was heard from his back. He yelped, turning from side to side in a late attempt to get it off. _I really hope this armor is as good as they say,_ he thought fearfully.

It exploded before he could think another thought.


	12. Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

* * *

 _Am I one with the AllSpark?_ Starscream thought with his optics closed. _No, I'm still here, aren't I? But that means…_

The smoke and fire cleared from around him. He was still alive and whole…and not even a scratch had marked him! Dreadwing's mine had failed.

The Seeker laughed maniacally, having hard to believe he had actually survived. "That tickled! HAHAHAH! FOOLS! Not only am I intelligent, I – am – _INVINCIBLE!_ "

"Yet you cannot fly!" Optimus pointed out.

"Nobody's perfect," Starscream replied, too good in a mood to let that one get him down. Who needs wings anyway when you've got the best armor in the universe? He walked over to Optimus, more confident than ever before. "Now, tell me of the three other relics. Are they as powerful as my shiny new armor?" He punched Optimus away, to show off his new power.

"They were hidden away precisely to be kept out of the hands of those like you!" he replied fiercely. He beat on the armor, but nothing made his foe even flinch.

"He is far too powerful, Prime!" Dreadwing shouted from behind. "Fall back!"

Optimus transformed and drove off, leaving Starscream mildly perplexed. _Do my audio receptors deceive me? Did I just hear Dreadwing say I was 'far too powerful'? Oh, I hope he'll say it again! I need to know if I heard right!_

"Cowards!" he shouted as Prime drove over to Dreadwing. "You will not escape my might!" He silenced when a sudden thought went through his mind. "Wait…you two are up to something!"

And right he was. Dreadwing activated his detonator once again. But this time the mine wasn't placed on Starscream's back; instead, there were several mines placed around him, beeping in choir before exploding. The explosion caused the ice beneath him to break apart and create a huge gap, leading to the ocean below.

" _ **WAAHHHH-NOOOOOOOO!**_ " he screamed as he fell through the hole, deep beneath the frozen sea, until he hit the bottom.

* * *

Starscream walked aimlessly around in the frozen ocean, still trapped in his Apex Armor. The reason why he was 'trapped' was because he learned he could not reach his GroundBridge remote in this armor, and he could not risk taking the armor off, in case the freezing water would instantly turn him to ice, also in case it would ruin the remote. The remote was his only way back to the Harbinger, and he wouldn't risk damaging it for anything. Besides, he didn't know how to take the armor off anyway.

He sighed as a school of fish swam by him. "Is this the end for me? Starving to death in this impenetrable armor? At least it will protect me from the cold. It won't do me any good if I can't receive energon though. I need to get out of this disgusting water! …Well, I'm glad that I at least got away from Prime and that damn Dreadwing."

He almost got a stroke when a bright light suddenly appeared, and a figure materialized in front of him. It was a mech. And Starscream recognized him as Creop Trivem.

"Hey! I remember you! You're the one who—"

" **Phase one: The Black Sun, completed,** " Creop interrupted, almost robotically. He repeated the same lines he did last time they met, though this time they were slightly different.

" ** _Accept the things that you least expect._**

 ** _The fallen star shall leave a scar._**

 ** _The dragon's roar will be heard._**

 ** _And then the Dark Lord shall return…_** "

And before Starscream could say anything, Creop disappeared as quickly as he had appeared. Starscream stared at the spot where the mech had just been, as if he had never been there to begin with.

"Well… _that_ was…weird…" he mumbled. "This cold must be playing tricks on me."

He suddenly remembered the solar eclipse from almost two months ago. It had appeared just before the calamities took place and Unicron's supposed awakening. Was that the 'black sun' that Creop was talking about? But Unicron had not completely awakened, nor had there been any 'fallen stars' or 'dragons roaring'…

"What are 'dragons' anyway?" he asked himself. "It sounds like something powerful…"

 _If that wasn't the time Creop meant when he said 'the Dark Lord shall return'…then does that mean…Unicron can STILL awaken…?_

* * *

As Starscream continued his journey through the endless ocean, in search for land, he grew not only hungrier and hungrier, but also more and more exhausted. The cold and the recent events had drained him of both energon and energy. He needed to recharge. But it was too dangerous to do that out here, especially given how low he was on energon. He had to keep himself awake until he returned to the Harbinger…somehow.

He flinched when a group of sharks appeared out of nowhere. They seemed hostile – or perhaps just curious, but what did he know about organics. "No need to panic," he said to himself. "They're just fleshlings. This is the Apex Armor. If Decepticon _landmines_ can't penetrate it, then neither will these pathetic Earthlings!"

When the sharks approached him, they pushed against the armor, and although they indeed couldn't penetrate it, they were still strong enough to give him quite a shaking, and that was enough to freak him out.

"Stay away you monsters!" he shouted and punched one of the sharks. This cued the other sharks to immediately attack him, seeing him as a threat. They still couldn't bite through the armor, but that didn't stop the Seeker from screaming in fear – he really hated Earth animals.

A missile slowly went through the water like a torpedo, scaring the sharks off the Seeker, and they disappeared into the darkness of the ocean. Starscream turned around to see who had fired that missile and sighed – partly of relief, partly of irritation – to see Thrust, the Herald of Unicron who hadn't participated in rescuing him from Nightbird some mega-cycles ago.

"Oh. It's _you,_ " Starscream said tired. "If it wasn't for my current state, I'd tell you to scram. But…I think I… _need your…help…_ " he struggled to get the words out.

"I understand," Thrust said. "You still got your GroundBridge remote?"

"Yes, but I can't reach it in here."

"It can tolerate water, and so can you. I mean, look at me, I'm fine!" Thrust spun around as proof of his words.

"Easy for you to say. You're not depleted from energon. I'll freeze in nano-cycles out there."

"Just trust me, as much as my name is Thrust. By the way, don't you think there's a lot of… _frost_ in this place?" Thrust laughed hysterically at his own joke. Starscream was not impressed by the pun. He was too tired to neither laugh nor snort.

"How do I get out of this thing?" he asked impatiently.

"Oh. Just press the button on the disc."

Starscream did as he said, and as quickly as it had come on, it came off again, transforming back into its original state. Starscream cringed when he felt the freezing-cold water enter his own armor. He shuddered as he fetched the remote and opened the GroundBridge back to the Harbinger. Thrust picked up the Apex Armor and held an arm around Starscream's shoulder, helping him through the portal in silence. At the moment, Starscream didn't really care that he was going to see his hideout – after all, Sideways had already established that the Heralds of Unicron, minus Nightbird, already knew of his location at all times, so what was the point of pretending he still had secrets from them any longer?

All he wanted right now was to go home.

* * *

"Feeling better now?" Thrust asked, as Starscream took a large sip of the energon tank with shaking servos.

"Somewhat," the Seeker replied and wiped a stain off his mouth. "But I think I want to be left alone now, so I can recharge."

"I'd offer to stay and help clean up, but with that note, I suppose I should just leave." The floor had become wet from the ocean water that had followed them through the portal. Without waiting for an answer, Thrust turned around and went towards the exit. He stopped, just as he was almost out, and looked back at the Seeker.

"Look, Starscream," he said in a serious tone. "I know the Blendtrons more or less told you to replace your T-cog by yourself…but even _I_ know that's a terrible idea. Even the most experienced, legendary of medics can't perform self surgery. You'd have to be awake to do that, so anesthetics are out of the question. Therefore, you'd have to go through massive pain, which will ultimately make you react and cause lethal mistakes."

"What's your point?" Starscream hissed in irritation.

"It's not so much a point. It's more like an advice. Don't try to perform self surgery. That's a _doctor_ 's job, if you get what I'm saying. You'll transform again someday, I know."

"Because you're from the future?"

Thrust silenced. "So he told you, huh? Guess there's no point in pretending anymore then. Yes, I know you'll transform again someday. But whether it is thanks to the Autobots, the Decepticons, yourself or humans…I can't say for sure. Rules."

 _I'm beginning to grow tired of your 'rules',_ the Seeker thought irritated.

"But what I really want to tell you…" Thrust continued, making the Seeker look up at him. "Stay out of trouble. Take care of yourself. And stay away from Nightbird. The armor will protect you for now, but who can say for how long you will have it? If you lose that armor, you're back to being a helpless piece of scrap. So don't do anything foolish, okay?"

Starscream felt highly offended by his words, but before he could give an answer, Thrust had already left the ship and taken off.

Starscream shook his head, too exhausted to even throw a tantrum. He had drunken the whole tank, keeping his fuel tank full for now, but his energy level was very low. He needed to rest. He looked longing at the tape recorder and sighed.

"I'll just record it tomorrow," he decided.

He went over to the recharging table and laid down on it. Come to think of it, he had never actually slept inside the ship before. It was the first time as a rogue that he now had a berth to sleep on. He closed his optics and went into stasis.

He'd take care of things the following morning.

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #27

I survived.

I know it may sound like a weird thing to say, but given yesterday's events, I really am glad to say that I live.

It feels like several solar cycles since my last log, even though it was only half a solar-cycle ago.

My surgery was interrupted by Decepticon signals in the Antarctic – an interruption that I gladly accepted. Probably because I didn't know what was in store for me.

I was captured by Dreadwing, Skyquake's twin brother and Megatron's new _second-in-command_. I'm deeply hurt by my replacement.

They were looking for a relic called the Apex Armor, a relic which I am in possession of right now.

How did _I_ end up possessing it, you ask?

Well, since you insist, I'll tell you.

Optimus Prime showed up and saved me from my captors…although afterwards, _he_ took me captive! He must be in a grim mood lately to treat a _defenseless_ captive rogue like me that way.

We found the Apex Armor, but then Dreadwing showed up again, and the two of them fought. In the meantime, I managed to cleverly snatch it and freed myself at the same time!

Although the armor is as incredible as the rumors say – they didn't even _dent_ it, those weaklings – they did manage to lure me into a trap which sent me to the deep, frozen ocean, deeming me to mega-cycles of aimless wandering about!

It was pure luck that I ran into Thrust, as I had become both tired and hungry, and also a bit cold. He helped me out of the armor and back to the Harbinger, where I, for the first time, strangely enough, slept on my recharging table. The portal also caused some water to pass through, but I've cleaned up to a more or less acceptable state in here now.

My energon supplies are gone now though, and I feel the hunger tinge my interior. I will leave soon to raid one of the energon mines – this time with my Apex Armor on. It will certainly make everything easier now! I can't wait to have instant energon supplies now!

Oh, I almost forget! I should probably mention one more thing before I leave…

While I was walking around in the ocean…I may just have been seeing things, but I swear that I saw Creop Trivem. You know, that bot who gave me those weird 'energon pellets' several months ago. I wonder if those pellets have anything to do with my constant hunger and chest pain? I mean, it all started after he had given me those pellets. Then again, it was only my very first day as a rogue, so I can't say for sure if it's the pellets or my status.

Anyway, so I met that creep, Creop…heheh, sounds kinda funny when you say it that way…regardless!

Last time we met, he was fully aware and everything, and he seemed more or less like a normal bot. This time, however, he didn't even seem to be aware that he was there, as if he was a mere hologram or something. He spoke in an almost drone-like state.

He talked about something like a 'phase one', a 'black sun' and then more or less the same lines he told me last time. Something with 'accepting what you don't expect', and a 'falling star that leaves a scar', and then something about 'dragons roaring'. And finally, of course, about 'the Dark Lord returning'.

And then he just disappeared, like heated energon. Minus the explosion.

I'm not sure if I really _did_ see Creop Trivem, or if it was merely a hallucination, but something about that mech really creeps me out…

I'd wish I knew what his deal is.

Well, I guess I'd better get going. My energon is waiting for me…


	13. Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

* * *

The work at the energon mine started out peacefully – unusually peaceful. No signs of Autobots had been reported at the mines lately. Most of the Vehicons took the peace for granted, but at least one of the guards knew the strange inactivity lately meant something was about to happen.

"Hey Steve," the guard next to him said, knocking him out of his thoughts. He certainly seemed more relaxed than his colleague. "Why are you looking so grim? Try to enjoy the peace, will you?"

"I don't know, Henry," the Vehicon replied quietly. "I just have a feeling something bad is about to happen…"

"You always have that feeling. Don't worry, everything's gonna be—"

He silenced as a GroundBridge appeared in the middle of the mine. The bright green light caught everyone's attention, both guards and miners. Was that Lord Megatron on his way to inform them of something? The Vehicon wondered what it could be…

The bot stepping out of the portal was not Megatron. It was Starscream.

"See, I told you something bad was gonna happen!" Steve said as he and the other Vehicon guards aimed their blasters at the Seeker, who kept surprisingly and unusually calm about being surrounded.

"Oh please, it's only _Starscream_ ," Henry said unconcerned. "We can take him out easy!"

* * *

 _Starscream's notes_

Yep. Changed it back to 'notes'.

Right now, I'm standing in the middle of one of Megatron's energon mines. I came through the GroundBridge, and now it disappeared. The Vehicons are all pointing their blasters at me and have surrounded me. Predictable.

If only they knew what I have in my possession. I can't wait to see their faces!

Well, their expressions probably won't change, because, you know, they're blank.

Still, I'm looking forward to see their reactions as I lay down my remote on the ground and take out the Apex Armor. I put it on my chest, and the Vehicons are watching me carefully, but obviously confused.

It's transforming around me. Now they're beginning to shoot at me. They're lousy shots, as always. And those that _do_ hit me, well they're not having any effect!

The armor is completely transformed now, and it appears the drones have realized their weapons don't work on me, because they've stopped shooting and are now running towards me.

I punch each of them with my mighty fists. They crack so easily, those fragile clones. It doesn't take long before each one of them have been thoroughly dismembered and crushed to tiny little pieces.

Now there's nobody to hinder me from getting my energon!

* * *

Starscream searched on the ground for his remote. He found it next to a headless Vehicon miner. It was a miracle that it hadn't been stepped on, blasted or otherwise harmed. Perhaps taking it outside the armor hadn't been such a good idea after all. Oh well.

He picked it up gently, still with the armor on, so he could carry larger crystals at a time. He opened a GroundBridge back to the Harbinger and began picking up and carrying crystals around in the mine over to the GroundBridge, then proceeding to simply throw them through the portal, landing safely back in the ship.

"I've hit a motherload this time," the Seeker snickered while throwing three very large crystals through the portal. "With this much energon, I'll be sustained for at least one more month!"

Unaware that he was not completely alone, a surviving Vehicon guard, the one called 'Steve', regained consciousness. He lifted his head and watched the former Air Commander throw large crystals into his own personal GroundBridge portal. He was currently too weak to fight him any longer. He opened a comm. and contacted the Nemesis.

"Lord Megatron," he said as quiet as possible, "this is trooper 7652-Steve from energon mine DLC 17! We're under attack!"

" _By Autobots?_ " Megatron's harsh voice sounded from the other end of the comm.

"By Starscream," Steve replied, almost a whisper. "He's taking huge chunks of energon…"

" _Then STOP him!_ " Megatron snarled.

"We tried. He's in possession of some really solid armor. Nothing we try can penetrate it!"

There was silence for a short moment, while Starscream loaded another large crystal into the portal. " _I don't want any excuses! Stop Starscream in any way you can!_ "

"But sir," Steve said, a little louder and more desperately, "I'm the only one left in here, and I'm heavily wounded! What could I possibly do alone?"

" _Blow the MINE!_ "

"What? But—"

" _I SAID BLOW IT UP! STARSCREAM MUST NOT GET ANY MORE ENERGON!_ "

Not wanting to hear any more of his master's wrath, Steve turned off his comm. and pulled forth his left blaster and pointed it at a bunch of crystals still sticking out of the walls. His right arm had been torn off, and his legs were dismembered as well. It was a miracle he had survived. A miracle that was soon to be blown to pieces by Megatron's unsympathetic orders. Oh well. Maybe in another life.

He fired the blaster without making another word and watched as the laser flew towards the crystals and past the Seeker, who now saw what the Vehicon was doing and followed the laser with his optics.

The shot hit, and the crystals began exploding, causing a chain reaction. The whole cavern was beginning to collapse, along with the many explosions around Starscream and Steve.

"Well, I guess two weeks will suffice as well," Starscream said and ran through the portal with the remote and one last small crystal in his servos.

The GroundBridge disappeared before the explosions or collapsing rocks could follow the Seeker. Steve lay on the hard cavern floor, waiting for his inevitable doom.

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #28

Ahhh, I didn't manage to acquire energon for an _entire_ month, but I did manage to get at least twelve large crystals and five smaller ones. This will definitely last at least three weeks! Which means I don't have to go on another raid until then!

Oh, how I love my shiny new Apex Armor! Megatron will _never_ take me down now!

Well, I better refine this huge stash and put it in cubes right away!

* * *

While Starscream was waiting for the first large crystal to get refined, he took one of the smaller crystals and began eating it, as he was too hungry to wait for a drink. Not wanting to get bored while waiting, he checked the monitor to see if there was anything interesting on it. He came back to look at the three remaining Decepticon signals at the three other continents. One of the signals was on this continent, another in the equator and the last one in the continent next to this continent. Starscream remembered how his trip to the Antarctic went, and he wasn't exactly thrilled by the outlook of another trip like that. However, the other signals weren't in any cold areas, at least not as far as he could see, and now he _did_ have his Apex Armor, which would definitely make the trip a lot safer for him. He was still curious as to what the other relics could be, even though he was certain the Decepticons had already left those areas.

"Oh, to the Pit with this," he said and finished his crystal. "I'll go check it out."

He set the GroundBridge's coordinates to the location in the western part of the States. The Apex Armor rested on his back, ready to be activated if necessary. He went through the portal and found himself in an underground subway tunnel. The portal disappeared behind him, leaving him in total darkness, the only light shining from his very own optics, giving him at least a little bit of vision in this dark tunnel. There were lights in the ceiling, but they gradually turned on and off, as if malfunctioning.

He walked along the train tracks in the blinking, dim light, turning his head to each side, scanning the area for a relic, other Transformers or at least signs of their presence. He stepped carelessly partly on the wooden center of the tracks, partly on the metal magnetic tracks to the sides, while searching the walls at each side of the tunnel. At one point, he stepped on one of the metal tracks and felt a surprising shock coming from it, which almost made him jump into the air.

"Crazy humans," he muttered enraged and decided to keep to the center of the tracks for now. After several cycles, he began noticing strange formations and holes in the walls and on the ground. Black marks from plasma and laser guns, scratch marks from very long and sharp claws, and small hollows in the earthy floor.

"There was definitely a battle here," Starscream concluded. "But over _what_? Where is the relic?"

He arrived at a fork as the ceiling lights suddenly went off, where the lever had been broken off. After a moment of consideration, he decided to go right, as that was the direction the track had been switched to.

The tunnel he chose ended in a dead end – _very_ dead, to be honest, because all he could see in the darkness at the end of the tunnel was a train wreck. That, and some small creatures wearing orange vests and yellow hardhats. _Humans!_

His arrival did not go unnoticed by the workers. As the ceiling lights turned back on, they turned around and gasped as they saw the tall Decepticon stand before them. Both parts stared perplexed at one another.

"What…is _that_?" one of the workers squeaked, as the ceiling lights turned off again, almost as quickly as they had turned on.

"It's…it's one o' them _aliens_!" the guy next to him exclaimed.

Starscream just stood there and stared silently at them in the darkness, unsure of what to do. Usually he felt highly superior to these puny Earthlings and would gladly arouse them and threaten them. But remembering his last encounter with humans, he had not been very excited to meet with them, even if most of them weren't dangerous like MECH. His rogue life had begun to give him paranoia, anxiety and he didn't know any longer whom he could trust or who were dangerous and who were harmless. These humans weren't MECH, but the Seeker wasn't sure yet if they posed a threat or not.

Without warning, one of the workers pulled forth a small rectangular device and pointed it at the Seeker. He reacted instinctively and pointed his missile at the humans. In the very next second, a bright flash blinked into the Seeker's optics, startling him. He tripped and almost fell over. As he regained his footing, he realized he couldn't see a thing. _Those blasted fleshlings have blinded me!_ he thought horrified. The sudden flash in the blackened tunnel had worked like looking directly into the sun.

Not wanting to stick around and get any more handicapped than he already was, he turned around and ran off, stumbling into walls and corners, as he waited anxiously for his vision to return. Behind him, he could hear one of the humans scold " _Now look what you did, you scared it off!_ ", but he didn't dare turn back and return the insult. He just wanted to get out of this claustrophobic place. He activated the GroundBridge and returned to the Harbinger.

* * *

The energon refiner had finished the first large crystal. Starscream filled two cubes and shoved in the next large crystal, which began refining right away. As he was still hungry, he grabbed another one of the small crystals to consume, wanting to save the cubes for the time after all of the crystals had been converted.

He looked at the monitor and the remaining two Decepticon signals. The last trip wasn't exactly dangerous, though his temporary blinding had left him with quite a scare. Now that he was back in the safety of the Harbinger, he felt embarrassed about the event. Startled by humans and their harmless human devices. Good thing no one else had been there to witness his humiliation.

* * *

"Hey, Dreadwing," Knock Out called. "Check this out."

The first lieutenant had checked in with Knock Out after his battle with Optimus Prime and Starscream. He went over to the medic and looked at the screen, displaying a picture of…well, speaking of the sun!

"Starscream's getting careless," the medic snickered. "Look how spooked he is of the human who took this picture! Hilarious!"

"Mhm," Dreadwing mumbled uninterested, examining the picture of Starscream, pointing his missile toward the screen, which exposed a small section of the Apex Armor on his back. The area behind him was pitch black, but the Seeker himself was distinctly bright, due to the assumed flash of the photographer's phone. "I see he is still in possession of the armor. I'm surprised he made it out that fast."

"Out where?" Knock Out asked curiously. Dreadwing hadn't mentioned the battle to anyone on the ship, not even Megatron.

"Nothing _you_ should worry about," he replied coldly. "Now get back to work."

Knock Out sighed and switched the channel. _You're certainly a charmer,_ he thought sarcastically. _This ship is so empty without Breakdown. He would've loved to see a picture like this one._

* * *

"Hey guys, check this out!" Raf called. Miko and Jack had been watching TV but interrupted it and went over to see what Raf had found.

"What'cha find?" Miko asked eagerly. "'Cons? Relics?"

"Isn't that Starscream?" Jack said as he saw the picture on the laptop. "Where'd you find this?"

"I was searching for pictures of Bumblebee on that conspiracy website," Raf explained, "and then Starscream just popped up. Someone must've managed to catch a shot of him and survived. Seems the Decepticons can be careless too."

"Where is he?" Arcee asked interested and walked over to them. "Let me see."

Raf tilted his laptop so Arcee could see. She examined the image of the agitated Seeker pointing his missile at the photographer. A very small portion of a device showed on his back, as if he was wearing some kind of backpack.

"He's in the same tunnel where we found the Phase Shifter," Arcee concluded. "But what would he be doing there? And what's that on his back?"

Optimus walked over, having overheard their conversation. Arcee stepped aside to let her leader see. The tall red and blue mech examined the image, specifically at Starscream's back. "It is the Apex Armor," he confirmed. "He seems to still be in possession of it. And he has apparently already gotten himself out of the ocean too."

"But what's he doing in the tunnel?" Arcee repeated. "The relic is gone and the area evacuated. How did he even know where to look?"

"He must have acquired a tracking system of bigger format," Optimus suggested. "And a GroundBridge too. Without his T-cog, getting to the Antarctic would be otherwise impossible. Perhaps he thought he could acquire more of the relics in his possession."

"He's obviously unaware that all the relics have _already_ been claimed then," Ratchet said from the medical bay, checking Bulkhead's status. The Wrecker was still unconscious from his battle with Hardshell and from being exposed to toxic energon, but he was healing.

"Still, with the Apex Armor in his possession, Starscream poses a great threat."

"Here we go," Raf said, as the image of Starscream was replaced with a GIF of a hare shoving its cheeks with marshmallows and said " _Chubby-bunny!_ " with a scratchy computer voice.

"Nice one," Jack said and turned to look at Miko, but this one had lost interest and gone over to be with Bulkhead, anxiously waiting for her partner to wake up.


	14. Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #29

Yesterday's event was quite embarrassing. That is, what happened _after_ my successful energon raid.

I have decided to investigate the other Decepticon dispatch signals, other than the Antarctic, of course. With the Apex Armor in my possession, it should prove safer for me now.

Now, yesterday I went to a subway tunnel, which was empty except for some human workers. I have to confess, I reacted quite…embarrassingly, to say the least. I thought one of the humans was going to fire a weapon upon me, but now that I think about it, it didn't look dangerous _at all_.

It's as if I keep growing more and more anxious and fearful every day.

And my hunger doesn't stop, naturally. In fact, it's beginning to increase to an extreme level lately. I feel like I need at least _three_ cubes a day, but so far I only have four, and I want to save those for later.

So for now, I sustain myself with the smaller crystals while the bigger ones get refined. Two cubes from each large crystal, I've learned. That means about twenty-four cubes in total, when this is over. Which means I'll have enough energon for about another week. Fair enough.

Since yesterday's investigation went so well, I've decided to go investigate another signal, one that lies close to the equator. I'm not sure what to expect when I get there, but I'll bring my Apex Armor just in case.

I'll let the refiner continue to convert the crystal while I'm gone.

* * *

Starscream exited the GroundBridge with the Apex Armor on his back, and found himself on a volcanic island of sorts. There was a peculiar scent in the air. Somehow, it smelled a bit familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why or what. It smelled like bad energon, to say the least.

"There doesn't seem to be anything around here…" He scouted the area with a servo above his optics. He heard the faint buzzing of a mosquito swirling around his audio receptors. He waved a servo to make it go away, but instead it got louder and louder, and then deeper and closer…and then he realized the buzzing wasn't coming from his audio receptors, but from behind him.

He was knocked down by something heavy from behind. He tried to get up, but whatever was pinning him down was so heavy that he couldn't move. A wet snarl and a rattling shriek, a servo filled with sharp claws grabbing a hold of him, and he was lifted up to look straight into the face of an Insecticon.

"Oh _scrap!_ " he shrieked, while trying to pry himself free from the Insecticon's claws.

The Insecticon let out a shrill roar and threw the Seeker against a rock wall, so the Apex Armor hit against his back, calling forth a series of pain from both the back and the inside of his chest. His chest pain apparently took the hit as a party invitation.

While the Seeker was recovering from the hit, the Insecticon walked towards him, slowly, because apparently it didn't think of him as a threat. Starscream decided to use this to his advantage.

He quickly, but shakily pulled forth the Apex Armor and placed it on his chest. The Insecticon apparently knew something was about to happen, because it sped up and went from walking to running towards the Seeker, who was now being enveloped in the thick, impenetrable armor. As the Insecticon approached him, he shot out a fist and punched the beast back. It flew into the air, but recovered quickly and transformed into its beetle mode, then flew down towards the armored Starscream.

As it transformed back to robot mode and put its claws into the armor, it seemed surprised to find out its claws couldn't penetrate the armor at all. Starscream took the chance and grabbed the creature's leg and swung it against the cliff wall, then jumped into the air and smacked it into the ground. He stood in front of it with a very satisfied and cocky smirk and cackled.

"Hah! I'm so powerful, even _Insecticons_ can't beat me! I'm invincible!"

The wounded Insecticon lifted its head and upper body and let out a tremendous, shrieking roar at the Seeker. Though it was rather unpleasant for his audio receptors and he could literally _feel_ the vibrations it caused, it didn't hurt him in any way. But then he heard a faint buzzing behind him, and this time he turned around to see…a whole _horde_ of Insecticons coming towards him!

 _Ohhhhh, scrap…_

The Apex Armor might be impenetrable, but a horde of Insecticons was too much even for him. He had to get out of there. But then he remembered he couldn't reach the remote while inside the armor. Which meant…

"Oh, Starscream, you better be fast!" he said to himself as he reluctantly pressed the button on the disc. The Insecticons were a few hundred feet from him. The wounded Insecticon didn't seem to be able to move.

It felt like the armor was taking forever to transform, and Starscream felt like stepping anxiously while waiting for his chance. The Insecticons were half a hundred feet from him when the armor was done transforming.

He quickly fetched his remote and pressed the button. The Insecticons were a few dozen feet from him now.

He picked up the Apex Armor and ran towards the portal at full speed. The Insecticons were less than a dozen feet from him.

 _I'm not gonna make it, I'm not gonna make it, I'm not gonna make it…_

Starscream jumped through the portal just as an Insecticon had swiped the tip of his wing, and as he came out on the other side of the GroundBridge, he immediately pressed the remote to shut it down as an Insecticon arm was showing up in the green blur.

The portal closed, and the Insecticon arm fell to the floor, twisting and leaking energon before lying still. Back in the equator, one of those Insecticons had just been 'disarmed'.

"Phew…that was close," the Seeker gasped and wiped his forehead clean of lubricate. He sat up and held a servo on his chest, trying to calm his fast-beating spark. "That's enough excitement for today."

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #30

Thirty logs. I think that calls for a celebration.

 _Crunch, crunch, crunch…_

I'd drink a cube, but there are still plenty of crystals left, and I stand by my word that I want to save the best for last. There aren't many small crystals left though.

Yesterday was such a hectic day. Since the previous investigation had been so harmless, I naively thought this one would be so as well.

Primus, was I wrong.

I was attacked by an _armada of Insecticons_! And I just barely managed to get back in one piece! Thank Primus for the Apex Armor! Without that I would have been scrapped!

As reluctant as I am by now, there's still one more signal left for me to investigate. I haven't found any clues to the other relics as of yet, but I need to see if there's at least something to see in this particular area.

I'll just put another crystal in the refiner, and off I go.

* * *

As Starscream exited the portal, he found himself in a temperate forest. The last Decepticon signal was not far from the signal in the tunnel, meaning it might be either on the same continent or the continent right next to it. Either way it would mean a long, but possible walk home if he was to lose the remote here. Not that he expected to lose it, but it was a possibility. That small device was his only way of getting back to the Harbinger safely and quickly. He valued it with his life.

"Hello?" he said, deeming the silence too…silent. "Is anyone out there? Any Decepticons? Where are you?" He sang the last bit. He was hoping to meet someone he could beat up this time, having the Apex Armor and everything. It was his second-most valued object.

" _Hello!_ "

Once again, someone hit him from behind, but instead of knocking him down, they instead knocked off the Apex Armor from his back. He turned to see who it was, but they were quickly gone. He turned to get to the armor, but his attacker then knocked and pinned him down on his back. He stared up at his opponent. It was a sleek femmebot with gray and purple armor, a yellow visor and a slashed Unicron insignia on her chest. She looked like a bigger, bulkier version of Arcee, but Starscream recognized her as the assassin named Nightbird. Her mouth was in a blank frown, and the Seeker couldn't tell if she was amused or angry.

"Y-you!" he said through gritted teeth.

"Yes, me," she replied coldly and aimed a laser gun at his chest, while pinning him down with the other servo. He noticed she had fingers instead of claws. "You can't imagine how much time I've spent looking for you, just so those annoying Heralds could save your petty armor! Very clever of Sideways to teleport you somewhere else before you returned to your hideout. But Sideways isn't here to save you now." She loaded her gun and prepared to fire. " _Nobody is_."

In a fast decision, Starscream kicked Nightbird in the stomach with the tip of his knee. She recoiled, and he used the chance to kick her with his whole leg, knocking her off him. She fired her gun, but missed and hit a tree instead, which was set on fire.

While she was distracted by her pain and the burning tree, Starscream got up and ran towards the Apex Armor on the ground, a mile away from where he was. _Just get a little closer, you're almost there,_ he thought encouragingly to himself as he neared the armor…

A stinging pain hit both of his ankles, almost at the same time, making him fall over; Nightbird must have shot him while he wasn't looking. Either way, she walked over to him from behind, ignoring the burning tree, which had begun spreading to the trees surrounding it.

"You're pathetic," she said and loaded her gun again, preparing to fire once more. "You're weak and fragile, a coward, an incompetent liar and a constructed failure. Snuffing your spark will be easy." She aimed her gun at his back. "Turn around so I can do my job!"

There was silence for a moment, while Starscream was crouched on his stomach. To her surprise, he was cackling. "As you wish."

He turned around and revealed the Apex Armor on his chest, which immediately started transforming around him.

"No!" Nightbird exclaimed and shot at him, but the armor blocked her attacks and sent them off into the distance. "No, I was so close! _To Pits with you!_ "

As the armor had finished transforming, Nightbird had reverted to motorbike mode and drove off into the woods. Starscream was now left alone, fully armored and with burning trees all around him. The fire was spreading quite fast, covering a large area of the forest now. Starscream looked concerned at the fire. The armor was impenetrable and waterproof alright, but was it heatproof too? He didn't think so, and it was already getting hard to breathe in there.

Though transformers like him didn't need to breathe oxygen like the humans did, it did cool down their internal systems and prevent overheat. There was no cool air here though, as the fire had quickly surrounded him and sucked up all oxygen and heated up the air around him. He had to get out of there, before he got overheated.

He began running in a random direction, hoping it would lead out of the forest, or at least a good distance away from the fire. But it seemed as if the fire was following him, as more and more trees around him caught fire. He wondered if this forest fire would alert the Autobots in any way? He gasped for air while running from the hot, bellowing flames.

He arrived in a glade, where the fire hadn't spread to yet, and decided this would be the best place to exit the armor and open a portal back to the Harbinger. He did it swiftly, just as the fire caught up to him. As he began walking into the portal, he learned his legs had taken more damage from the shots than he thought; he could barely move them, and struggled to merely take one step at a time, all while gasping for cool air, which was highly reduced by the surrounding flames. But as if his situation wasn't bad enough already, upon entering the portal, he heard a rumble from behind, and before he could close the GroundBridge behind him, Nightbird had made her way through to the ship along with Starscream, knocking the latter one down once more.

"So _this_ is where you're hiding?" she cackled while pinning him down on his stomach, on the hard floor. "Ah, I see you have some operation tools lying around! Let's make some fun out of this otherwise _frustrating_ situation, shall we not?"

She dragged him along the floor by his arms behind his back, rendering him unable to move other than kicking pointlessly in the air. She put him on the recharging table and turned him around, so he was facing her, holding a firm grip on both his wrists with one servo. She was grinning while reaching out for the durabillium drill on the instrument panel next to them. Starscream looked around for something to stop her.

"Let's get this over with, dear," she said in a sugar-sweet tone. She pressed the button on the drill and began slowly directing it to Starscream's chest, specifically at his spark chamber.

Starscream couldn't exactly see a way out of this: His legs were paralyzed, he was unable to transform, the femmebot had an incredibly strong grip on his servos, and his wings along with the femmebot's weight made it almost impossible to roll to the side. The drill was dangerously close to his chest now. If only Sideways or any of the other Heralds would show up…

 _No, I can't just rely on those scraps,_ he thought anxiously and annoyed. _I have to get myself out of this mess, or I'll DIE!_

Just as the drill brushed the metal on his chest, he made a quick decision and head-butted Nightbird on the forehead. The drill dug deeply in, causing the Seeker to scream in pain, but the attack made Nightbird recoil and fall backwards, the drill falling out of her servo. Starscream took the chance and jumped off the table with a servo on his chest, covering the leaking wound, running as fast as he could on his otherwise paralyzed legs; the adrenaline boost must have given him some mobility to flee. But he wasn't going to leave the Harbinger. He wouldn't give up his home a second time.

He grabbed the remote and stopped in front of the wall, facing Nightbird, who had just gotten up and pulled forth a laser sword.

"You little glitch," she spat and ran towards him. "You made a big mistake by not running away. A _big_ mist—"

Starscream jumped to the side and opened a portal. Nightbird was taken by surprise, but before she could stop in her tracks, Starscream kicked her all the way through the portal and quickly closed it again, alone once more.

Where had he sent her off to? He had merely picked a random location to make sure she would get out. He looked at the monitor. The coordinates were set to…

"The Antarctic!" Starscream laughed maniacally. The femmebot was _never_ going to find him again! Not unless she learned how to _fly_!

He looked down at the blue wound on his chest. It was leaking a lot, but thankfully it had not breached his spark chamber.

He would live.

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #31

It has been two days since my battle with Nightbird. Yeah, I forgot to tell you about that. She followed me back to the Harbinger, and thus I had to clean up after our 'mess'.

Almost all of my large crystals have been refined to energon cubes. There's only one large crystal left. I have twenty-two cubes, and just used up my last small crystal this morning. I would have refined the crystals faster if it wasn't because of my recent 'explorations'.

Now that I have a somewhat steady energon supply, I am searching the internet for information regarding any of the other relics.

So far, I am disappointed.

* * *

" _This_ is what the humans call the information super-highway?" Starscream said while searching a conspiracy website, scrolling over several pictures of fake aliens, ghosts and a car without a driver.

"A trillion gigabytes of data, _none_ of it useful!" Next to the picture of the car was a GIF of a tap-dancing monkey. He clicked on it and watched it.

"Though some…oddly engrossing." He laughed merrily at the GIF and continued scrolling. As he scrolled through a few more pictures, he found one very interesting photo.

"What is _this_?" he purred and zoomed in on the picture, featuring a large red crystal in the middle of a construction site. He gasped in awe - at first he couldn't believe his own optics, but then he laughed maniacally. "Ignorant life forms have no idea what they've uncovered!"

 _Red energon…_


	15. Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

* * *

 _Starscream's notes_

I have just exited the GroundBridge portal and arrived at the construction site where the red energon is supposed to be. To avoid any conflicts, I am shouting out at the humans so they will scram and…

Wait, where's the red energon? _Where is it?!_

Grrr, those pestiferous humans must have moved it somewhere! But where? How am I supposed to find it again? I better get back to the Harbinger and rethink my plan.

* * *

Starscream speculated like crazy when he returned to the Harbinger. He walked back and forth by the computer while brooding over where the humans could have taken the red energon. The refiner was still working on the last large blue crystal.

"Think, Starscream, _think_ ," he said to himself. "If the humans have taken the energon somewhere, _where_ would they take it? And more importantly, _how_ would they transport a crystal that size? What would _I_ do if I were those humans?"

 _They could have taken it by air,_ he thought. _But no, it would be too exposed for bystanders, even if they managed to get it inside one of their tiny aircrafts. How about the ocean then? They do have those large ships with roomy cargo holds, I've seen. It could be possible…_

He went to the computer and searched for the nearest harbor. The humans probably couldn't have carried that crystal too far from the crash site.

He found a harbor some hundred kliks west. He set the GroundBridge on the coordinates, grabbed the Apex Armor and went through the portal.

As he arrived on the other side with the armor in his right servo, he stood between rows and rows of containers close to the water. He walked among them and looked to each side, scanning the area for anything red and luminous. He exited a row of containers and looked to the left, his spark racing faster when he spotted a crate glowing red; it was hanging in the air, connected to a crane.

 _There it is. The red energon. It's magnificent. I can't wait to get my hands on—_

His thoughts were interrupted by a green light below the crate. He retreated to the cover of the container while watching the GroundBridge being exited by the Autobots. He counted them.

 _Prime…Arcee…and Bumblebee. They must have found the same photo as I. But how did THEY know where to look?_

The answer was obvious, when he thought about it. The Autobots were friends with the humans, so of course they had been informed where the crystal was. They were going to claim it for their own! They were going to steal the thing that was rightfully _his_!

 _Never!_ he thought and stepped out from his hiding place. Because it was night and the Autobots were distracted by the red glow above them, Starscream managed to walk all the way to the crane next to the one with the crystal in it, before he made his presence clear to them. He stood straight with lowered shoulders, looking taller and more confident than usual.

"Run along home, Autobots," he called and gained the Autobots' attention. Though they readied their blasters, he did not back down. "That red energon has _my_ name all over it!"

He placed the Apex Armor on his chest and initiated the usual transformation. Unlike his previous encounters, they did not fire upon him right away. Perhaps they were too intimidated by his mighty armor. The thought made him snicker silently while the armor finished transforming. They took their battle stances and prepared for battle.

"And I am _more_ than willing to fight for it."

* * *

Arcee and Bumblebee ran off to the right, while Optimus stayed behind. Starscream ran towards the Autobot leader while the latter began shooting at him, but to no avail. The heavy-armored Seeker approached him in close combat and although Prime got a few hits in, the Seeker grabbed hold of him and threw him against the containers.

"Don't tell me you've already forgotten our last encounter, Prime," he said gleefully while walking towards the Autobot leader. Sounds of voices reached his audio receptors from his right, and he turned to see Arcee and Bumblebee climb up the crane. They were going for the red energon!

He forgot all about Optimus and instead went towards the crane, smirking like he did best. He grabbed hold and began climbing up after the Autobots, although he felt the size and weight of the armor meant he could easily fall down again. But that rule applied to the Autobots as well. It was a long way down.

"The higher you climb, the harder you fall," he sang to them, as they arrived at the top. Bumblebee started shooting at him, but the blasts were too weak to even make the armor flinch, let alone knock the Seeker down. Starscream laughed merrily at the scout's attack. "Autobots. Such slow learners."

He arrived at the top and followed the Autobots, while Bumblebee continued to shoot at the armor in vain. The Seeker was beginning to get bored of it. He lashed out at the scout so he was flung into a stake and almost fell down, but he managed to grab onto the safety rails and stay put. Starscream ignored the scout and followed Arcee, who had approached the crate containing the red energon. She reached out for it but looked up as the Seeker approached her, casting a large shadow over her.

"Time to unload some more _dead weight_ ," he said and reached his servo out to grab her.

Her gaze shifted to the Seeker's left, and he followed her optics. On the other crane, Prime had made his way to the very top, and before the Seeker could react, the Autobot leader sprung and landed a heavy fist onto the rogue. Starscream stumbled and fell over, but he managed to grab hold of the crate with one servo, preventing him from falling further down. The crate was opened, and now he had free access to the red energon.

 _That's it,_ he thought while grabbing onto the crystal with his other servo. _Come to papa…_

His weight was too much for the crystal to handle, and the chunk he held onto broke off, falling down with him. He tried to hold onto it, but the fall made him loose his grip and the crystal fell out of his servo.

"No!" he shouted and screamed as he fell to the ground.

Although the Apex Armor spared him for the worst of the fall, it did call forth that inexplicable chest pain he dreaded so much, leaving him immobile for a moment. As the pain subsided, he got up and saw Prime trying to pull the crate up by the cable.

 _Oh no, you don't,_ he thought and went over to the crane. He grabbed the bottom and started lifting it up, making the Autobots stumble at the top.

He snarled of exertion. "Watch your step, Autobots!" he said and laughed maniacally.

He lifted the foot of the crane above his head, making the crane tilt dangerously towards the water. He could hear the Autobots falling over; he was winning. Not only would he walk away with all the red energon, he would have personally vanquished more than half of the Autobots. This was definitely his moment of glory!

A GroundBridge opened some distance to the left of him. He looked in the direction and got surprised to see a white racing car with a thick blue middle stripe and the number 38 on the doors drop out from the portal and drive towards him.

 _Who in the name of Primus is that?_ he thought curiously as the car stopped in front of him and transformed into a young white and blue Autobot. He was definitely new around here. He let go of the crane, so it returned to its original place, and faced the newcomer.

"So, the Autobots have a new recruit?" he said and took a few steps forward, smiling gleefully at the mech.

"And you must be Starscream," the 'Bot said. "I thought you'd be taller."

The Seeker winced at the insult. This bot seemed pretty cocky and sassy, traits which did not go along with Starscream. He snarled offended at the bot.

" _Smokescreen_ , stand down!" Optimus shouted from the crane. "You are no match for Starscream's Apex Armor!"

 _Oh, how I LOVE when they say that!_ Starscream thought flattered. "Any last words, 'Smokescreen'?" he said and smirked.

"Just four," Smokescreen replied and activated a round device on his wrist. " _Kiss your armor goodbye!_ "

He began running towards the Seeker, who merely stood baffled and watched what happened. He wasn't sure if this Smokescreen was joking, but he had the knack that something was about to happen.

Smokescreen jumped and kicked at the armor…and went _through_ it, along with Starscream. He _kicked_ Starscream _out of the armor_!

The Seeker landed on his back a dozen feet from Smokescreen and the armor. He sat up on his elbows and stared in disbelief.

"A _Phase Shifter_?" he whimpered shocked.

"Now _that_ was a _plan_!" Smokescreen shouted, followed by the Apex Armor falling to the ground, now that no one was operating it.

Starscream was filled with dread. The Apex Armor, the only thing giving him an advantage in battle, was now right behind an Autobot, with the only device that is superior to the armor. He considered his options of getting it back, when the sound of driving suddenly reached his audio receptors. He looked around to see a dozen jeeps filled with black-suited humans surround the area, one of them containing a scarred man with a painfully familiar face.

"No…not _you!_ " Starscream cried, remembering his last encounter with MECH. There was _no way_ he was going to get the armor back now.

The Autobots seemed just as, if not even more surprised to see the humans, for some reason.

"Silas," Optimus said ominously. "You survived."

"Indeed I did, Prime," Silas replied calmly. "Project Chimera is _far_ from finished."

Smokescreen merely looked confused at the humans, clearly not understanding what all the fuss was about. Starscream looked around at the humans pointing their tiny blasters at him and Smokescreen, and caught the glimpse of something red and shiny among the containers. The red energon chunk he broke off earlier. He smiled. One chunk was all he needed. He rose up, earning a good amount of aims pointed at him. He aimed his own missile at the crate containing the rest of the red energon.

"Think fast!" he shouted as he launched the missile. It hit the crate and exploded with great effect. The crane fell together along with the Autobots, forcing the humans to scatter in order to not get hit by the debris. Starscream used the distraction to grab the chunk and open a GroundBridge back to the Harbinger. He escaped before anyone noticed he was missing.

* * *

The smoke lifted and gave the Autobots a clearer view.

"Is everyone alright?" Optimus called.

"I'm good," Arcee replied. "But was that really Silas? I thought he was killed from Nemesis Prime's crash."

"So did I. It would seem he is as hard to defeat as Megatron…"

"Cease them!" Silas' voice sounded. The MECH soldiers began firing upon the Autobots.

"Autobots, fall back!" Prime ordered and turned on his comm. "Ratchet, we need a GroundBridge, immediately!"

The GroundBridge opened and the Autobots went through. Optimus stopped in his tracks. "Smokescreen! Fall back!"

"Just a second, Prime!" the young bot said and went to the Apex Armor. He ignored the humans shooting at him, as the Phase Shifter granted him invulnerability, and pressed the armor to change it back to transportable size. He picked it up and ran over to the portal and followed Optimus through. The portal closed before any of the humans could follow them.

"Blasted," Silas snarled. "We should have taken more than that Decepticon's T-cog when we had the chance…"

"Sir?" one of the soldiers addressed Silas. "You should come see this."

Silas followed the soldier to the water just below the destroyed crane. A faint red glow could be seen from the water. A second piece of the red energon had splintered from the crystal when Starscream had broken his chunk off.

"Excellent," he said. "Pull it up. We have a delivery to make."

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #32

Well, I didn't manage to get _all_ the red energon I found, but at least I secured a nice big chunk. It should at least fill one cube, and one cube is more than enough.

Ahh, red energon. So rare, so volatile, yet so _powerful_. It gives the consumer the power of hyper-speed, a power which I am in desperate need of now that I have lost my Apex Armor.

Oh, dear Primus, I've lost my Apex Armor! And to what? A new Autobot recruit named Smokescreen! He had a Phase Shifter, the only weakness the Apex Armor has. I certainly did not expect that.

I have decided to keep a low profile for now, since my armor is gone and I have plenty of energon cubes in store. My last crystal is done refining, and I have now placed the red energon in the refiner.

Given its size it shouldn't take more than a mega-cycle.

Oh, I can't wait to try out my new hyper-speed energon!

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #33

Okay, the refining is taking a little longer than I expected.

It's been refining for a whole solar cycle now, but apparently red energon is really slow at refining, because it only presses out one small drop every fifth nano-cycle. It's barely even stained the whole bottom of the tank.

No matter. Perhaps it will be done in a few days. I still have twenty cubes left.

I can wait.

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #34

By the Pit! Are you kidding me?!

It's been a whole _week_ now, I only have one energon cube left, and that fragging red energon has barely even filled up a fifth of the tank! And the crystal is almost gone!

* * *

"Grrrrr…! Hurry up, already!" he snarled impatiently at the refiner while watching another two drops fall into the small red pool with a long pause between each drop. He was getting worried. "How is it possible that speed-enducing energon takes longer to process than _regular_ energon?!"

He snarled and pulled away from the tank. Perhaps he had made a mistake in relying on the power of red energon. While waiting through the unusually long refining process, he had also discovered that although red energon does indeed enhance speed, it only does so for a little while. He had just used up his last energon cube, and without his Apex Armor he couldn't just walk right into an energon mine and steal more crystals. But he didn't know if he could afford to wait any longer for the red energon to finish refining…

The refiner beeped, informing him the crystal was done refining. He growled dissatisfied at the small amount of refined red energon; only a fifth of the tank in his servo had been filled, not _nearly_ enough for even half a cube.

"An _entire_ chunk of red energon…and _this_ is all I get?!" he exclaimed in disbelief. "There's enough here for _one_ dose! Maybe _two_!"

This confirmed his fear that he could not afford to just spend it on raiding a mine. He had to use it wisely, and _fast_. He wouldn't go another day without energon, and this would certainly not fuel him for more than a few cycles, until it would burn up and the speed wear off.

The monitor beeped, diverting his attention away from the red energon for now.

"Decepticon movement," he mumbled while looking at the screen. He speculated for a moment.

"While speed is hardly a suitable replacement for the might of the Apex Armor, it should provide me with enough of an edge to obtain a more… _formidable_ relic."

He then spent the next mega-cycle planning his next move.


	16. Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

* * *

Starscream set the GroundBridge coordinates to the location of the Decepticon signal on the monitor. He knew it was dangerous to go out without his Apex Armor, especially since he had no energon left in the Harbinger, meaning injuries would be a too dangerous risk to take. However, the signal of a new Decepticon dispatch signal hinted that they were looking for yet another relic – one perhaps even _more_ formidable than the mighty Apex Armor. And he was more than willing to retrieve it.

Before he left, he brought with him one of the two doses of red energon that he had prepared. He wasn't certain he would use it right away, but in case he misused the first dose, he still had the second one as a back-up – one he had to use _very_ wisely. Plus, it would give him a good indication of how long it would last, and if there were any side-effects he had to be cautious of.

As he went through the portal, he arrived in a temperate forest with orange and red autumn leaves. It was late afternoon, and the pale yellow sky gave him a better view on the area than other times he had been in forests, at night. He definitely preferred daytime.

"Alright," he said to himself. "Let's see what my Decepticon brethren have uncovered _this_ time…"

Before even taking a step forward, a loud explosion sounded from nearby, followed by several other explosions occurring around in the area. Starscream was taken by surprise by the sudden assault, but wasted no time in running away from the explosions. He ran frantically between the burning trees and felt explosion after explosion behind his back, one of them knocking him over. A tree fell down on him, hindering him unable to move.

As he tried to get free, he suddenly saw a pair of figures jump over him and run off, away from the flames, one big and one small. He recognized the figures as Bulkhead and Smokescreen, the Autobots. Were _they_ the cause of the explosions?

 _No, explosions seem to be more in Dreadwing's area…_

They completely ignored him; they were so focused on getting away that they hadn't even seen him. As the explosions subsided and the fire spread around him, making breathing a difficult task, he used all his strength to lift the log high enough for him to quickly crawl out, before letting it go again. He ran off in the direction he had seen the Autobots take, until he arrived in a scorched glade.

He had been correct before; Bulkhead was about to engage Dreadwing in hand-to-hand combat, while Smokescreen ran off somewhere, after Bulkhead threw a tracking device over to him. Not wanting to stick around with the battling mechs, Starscream decided to follow the young recruit.

He followed the mech to a rocky hill, where he had laid his tracking system on a rock and began removing other rocks. Starscream hid himself behind some trees and flinched as one last explosion sounded from the area where Bulkhead and Dreadwing were fighting.

As Smokescreen continued to remove the rocks, Starscream pulled forth his red energon dose.

 _Whatever he found, I need it,_ he thought and injected the red energon into his arm.

Time seemed to slow down, by every small movement the Seeker made. He watched as Smokescreen removed the last rocks, unveiling a vessel of sorts. He walked out from his hiding spot and watched as basically the whole world around him stopped moving.

"Interesting," he mused to himself, as he walked past the still Smokescreen, slowly, _very_ slowly, picking the vessel up. "So this is hyper-speed. I had thought _I_ would be going faster, instead of _them_ going _slower_. Oh well, I guess it works either way. Now get done with that, Autobot! I want to see what's inside…"

Starscream walked back and forth impatiently, only stopping to watch a few times. It seemed to take forever for Smokescreen to open up the vessel, revealing a large, rusty, ancient-looking key of sorts. Starscream looked wondrous at the artifact for a while, still while the world around him was in slow-motion, and Smokescreen still took no notice of his presence.

"Well, it's not exactly an Apex Armor," Starscream said and walked away towards the trees, wanting to try something. "But given all the fuss, it seems important some way or another. And if it is _important_ …" He took a run-up. "I _want_ it!"

He dashed forward, completely stopping time around him with his hyper-speed. As he approached Smokescreen, he knocked him on the head and watched as the Autobot slowly fell on the ground. The Seeker grabbed the key in mid-air – an easy task, as it was basically just floating peacefully in the air, ready to _be_ grabbed – and laughed at the unconscious recruit, still falling to the ground.

"This was so easy, it was almost _boring_ ," he snickered and walked off, as he heard a voice – " _ **Sssssssmmmmmmmooooooohhhhh…**_ " – coming from behind the trees. He grunted and nudged his arms and legs as he found himself a spot further up on the hill to hide; apparently it wasn't a good idea to _run_ during hyper-speed. It felt like his limbs were about to fall apart.

He decided to stand completely still – well, as still as he possibly could, anyway – as Bulkhead exited the forest and walked towards Smokescreen – collapsed on the ground but regaining consciousness as the Wrecker approached him – to be able to hear better what they were saying. Since the hyper-speed was still in effect, their voices were still slow and blurry, but it was easier to decipher than before.

" **Ssmmookkeessccrreeeenn … wwaakkee … uupp…** " Bulkhead said in slow-motion.

After a while, the young Autobot said: " **Ww-wwhhaatt … hhaappppeenneedd…?** "

" **Tthhaatt'ss … wwhhaatt … II … wwaannnnaa … kknnooww…** "

About a cycle later – at least that's what it felt like for the Seeker – Smokescreen had finally gotten back on his legs and started slowly and dopily looking around.

" **Tthhee …** _ **Oommeeggaa**_ **…** _ **Kkeeyy**_ **…** " A long pause. " **II … hhaadd … iitt…** " Another long pause. " **Uunnttiill … ssoommeetthhiinngg … hhiitt … mmee … ffrroomm … bbeehhiinndd…** "

 _Omega Key, huh?_ Starscream thought in his mind – he almost looked at the relic, but then remembered how it would slow time even more. He decided to wait – for however long he had to – until they let loose a little more information on this relic in his servo.

" **Ddrreeaaddwwiinngg … mmuussttaa … hhaadd … bbaacckk-uupp…** " A long pause, followed by Bulkhead slowly shifting his gaze at the tracking device. " **Tthhaatt … rreelliicc'ss … lloonngg … ggoonnee…** " Another long pause – Starscream sighed in annoyance – and Bulkhead seemed to activate his comm. " **Rraattcchheett … wwee … nneeeedd … aa … bbrriiddggee…** "

" **II…** " Smokescreen said after a short while. " **II … ttoolldd … Ooppttiimmuuss … II'dd … rreettuurrnn … wwiitthh … tthhaatt … kkeeyy…** "

Then, there was silence for several cycles, much to the Seeker's irritation.

 _Speak up already, Autobots! I don't have all day, and I don't know how much longer this red energon is going to last!_

After several cycles, a green light emerged behind them, and Starscream got to witness in slow-motion how a GroundBridge portal formed. It would be fascinating if it wasn't for his impatience to know what this key was so important for. Then, finally, Bulkhead broke the silence and granted Starscream's wish.

" **Lliisstteenn … kkiidd …** " Short pause." _ **Aallpphhaa**_ **…** _ **Ttrriioonn**_ **… ssaaiidd … wwee … nneeeedd … aall … ffoouurr … kkeeyyss … ttoo …** "

Starscream held his breath, completely concentrated on the next words.

"… **rreessttoorree … Ccyybbeerrttrroonn … rreemmeemmbbeerr…?** "

His spark made a jolt, but kept listening for more, as he watched them slowly walk into the portal.

" **Wwee … jjuusstt … nneedd … ttoo … hhaanngg … oonn … ttoo … tthhee … oonnee … tthhaatt … wwee …** _ **hhaavvee**_ **…** " The Seeker listened to the last bit of words Bulkhead said as the twosome walked through the portal and disappeared from sight. " **…ffiinndd … aa … wwaayy … ttoo … ggeett … tthhee … ootthheerrss … bbaacckk … ffrroomm … Mmeeggaattrroonn…** "

As the GroundBridge disappeared, Starscream finally saw privilege to move again and looked at the Omega Key in his servo.

"The promise of a new Cybertron…" he said fascinated to himself, "…in the palm of my hand." An idea got into his head, and he smiled gleefully. "When I obtain _all four_."

He walked off into the forest, noting the effect of the red energon was still going; fallen leaves hung still in the air, as if a thin thread from the tree was holding them still. He wasn't certain how much time had passed in the real world, but it felt like at least half a mega-cycle had passed in the hyper-speed world.

He had just considered his options of simply _walking_ back to the Harbinger, when a figure walked in front of him – in his _own_ speed. He recognized the figure as Drancron, the Blendtron whose tongue was as sharp as his teeth. Starscream was confused and looked at the leaves again. They were still frozen in place. But Drancron seemed to move around in the same proportion as the Seeker himself. But how? Did the Heralds of Unicron own their own stash of red energon?

He had just decided with himself that it was merely a hallucination and started walking again, when Drancron spoke – in fluent, regular speed: "What's up, Screamer?"

Starscream stopped and looked the Herald directly in the visor. "How…how can you see me? How can I _understand_ you? I should be moving at hyper-speed! Look at those leaves!" He pointed at the still-frozen leaves in the air.

"I see them," Drancron replied casually. "And yes, you _are_ moving at hyper-speed. So do I. And before you ask, no, I don't have any red energon, none of us Heralds do. I just happen to have the power of hyper-speed."

"Where are your…companions?" the Seeker asked, referring to Elphorca and Rartorata, finding it strange to meet a lone Blendtron, as they always seemed to be together.

"They don't have hyper-speed, dummy," the lizard-dragonfly replied rudely, "so of course they can't keep up with me when I go into hyper-mode."

"Well…" Starscream continued, trying to ignore the insult. "Then what are you doing here?"

"What else? Making sure you're okay. We noticed you had opened a GroundBridge to this location, and the others said I would be the fastest one to get here, and here I am."

Starscream growled and clenched his fists. "You know what? I am getting _sick_ and _tired_ of you Heralds of Unicron! You keep disturbing me when I don't need you, and when I _do_ need you, you're nowhere to be found! I am _done_ with Nightbird, I am _finished_ with you Blendtrons, Thrust, Sideways, and especially that weirdo Creop Trivem!"

Drancron blinked. "Excuse me, what did you say?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Starscream said sarcastically. "Did I insult you? Please make sure to tell your _mighty_ and _great_ and _wise_ companions to—"

"Shut up," Drancron snapped. "What was that last name you said?"

"Creop Trivem?" Starscream repeated stumped.

"Yeah. Who's that?"

Starscream seemed even more confused than by the whole hyper-speed thing. "You know, Creop. Tall guy, dark, creepy, sometimes speaks in rhythms?"

Drancron crossed his arms. "Nope. Don't know him."

"Well, you have to. He's got the same insignia you all have." Starscream pointed at the yellow Unicron insignia on Drancron's arm.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you," Drancron said, "but there is no Herald of Unicron called Creop Trivem. Heck, there doesn't exist _anyone_ named Creop Trivem. We've run the files back in the future, and we never stumbled upon such a weird name. Whoever this mech you're speaking of is, he doesn't exist, never did, never will."

Starscream was left with a mixed feeling of confusion, ignorance and unease, as Drancron parted ways with him, deciding the Seeker was okay. He didn't even notice the effects of the red energon had finally worn off; the leaves were yet again falling from the trees, the wind was once again blowing, and the clouds continued to move across the sky. He speculated like crazy as he fetched his remote.

If Creop Trivem wasn't a Herald of Unicron, but had the Unicron insignia, and didn't have any files of even _existing_ …then what _was_ he? _Who_ was he?

* * *

As Starscream returned to the Harbinger, he plotted over what to do with his newly claimed relic.

"Individually, each of these so-called 'Omega Keys' is useless. Yet, possessing even a single one grants me _tremendous_ negotiating power with either Autobots _or_ Decepticons."

He walked over to his deceased clone, who was still hanging on the wall, staring blankly downward with black optics. He pondered and plotted, and an intriguing idea came to him.

"Still…imagine if I manage to acquire the _other three_." An image of a restored Cybertron formed in his mind, with him as the new ruler of the renewed world.

"I could revive _Cybertron_! And cease the throne as Starscream the First, Supreme Overlord, and Emperor of Destruction!"

He laughed maniacally, but then stopped as a hurtful realization came to him.

"Ohhh…but unlike Megatron, I lack the necessary infrastructure to enforce such a reign. No warship, no army! Only my _miga_ laboratory finds, a GroundBridge remote control, a single remaining dose of red energon, and you," he added to the dead clone, " _old friend_." _Not to mention that my regular energon supply has completely vanished. And without the Apex Armor and only one dose of red energon left, I cannot afford to go on another raid._

"But, I would all too gladly trade _this_ ," he said while looking at the Omega Key in his palm, "simply to be restored to my former glory."


	17. Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

* * *

The next couple of mega-cycles, Starscream structured a clever, perfect plan. He left the Omega Key on the instrument panel along with the T-cog taken from his clone, opened a GroundBridge to the same location he had met with Ratchet and Bulkhead in the past, grabbed the last red energon dose, carried his clone through the portal and ended up in the forest. It was now evening. The sun had set and the moon was getting ready to replace it on the sky.

He positioned his clone by a rock, so he was sitting down with his head facing downward, thus hiding his 'deathness' from immediate onlookers. The only thing hinting at the clone's death was the black mark on his chest, where his Decepticon insignia used to be, which Starscream had personally inflicted upon him.

He then hid himself behind some trees and opened a high frequency channel with an embedded message to the Autobots.

 _I have obtained something of interest to you, which seems to be of no practical use to me. Bring medical kit. I only ask for the surgical replacement of my T-cog in return._

"There, that should do it," he mumbled as he set the trap and waited for a bite. If he could at least obtain the keys in possession of the Autobots, he could deliver them to Megatron as a peace offering, because even if Megatron already had one or two of the keys, he still needed the remaining one, two or three keys. Either way, Starscream had the means to return to the Decepticons, something he was confident about this time. It was the most perfect plan he had ever composed. It could not go wrong. The only thing he had to worry about was the timing.

It did not take longer than a few cycles before a GroundBridge appeared in front of the clone. _They have taken the bait,_ the Seeker thought. _I have to be fast. VERY fast._

As the Autobots – Ratchet, Bulkhead as usual, but with the addition of Optimus Prime – exited the portal and approached Starscream's dead clone, thinking it was the real him, the actual real Starscream injected the last dose of red energon into his arm and observed as the world around him stopped moving, like before.

Then, he simply walked over to them and watched their shocked, perhaps even sad reactions to the 'Seeker's' death, as Bulkhead poked him which made him fall down. They probably believed his signal had been picked up by the Decepticons – or even Airachnid – who had then found him and executed him (judging from the hole in his chest), and then made off with the key. How convenient. And touching. They actually cared about him! Or perhaps it was just the key they cared about…

He shook his head and moved through the GroundBridge. He took a look around; he had never been in the Autobots' base before. Because of the hyper-speed effect, the lights seemed to be blinking slowly, partly dark and partly bright, every nano-cycle. In front of the portal stood Bumblebee, Smokescreen and Arcee respectively, the latter one by the GroundBridge control itself, ready to close if necessary. Bumblebee had his blasters pointed directly at the portal, and Smokescreen just stood with his arms crossed. If only they knew how great a danger they all were in right now…

"It would seem I have the run of the place," he snickered.

They were all frozen-still, as if they were mere statues, completely unaware of the fact he was among them. They could neither see nor hear him. They were unable to do anything to stop him. They were completely at his mercy. He walked between the two mechs and stopped by Arcee.

"Oh, how easy it would be to gut you," he said and drew a claw dangerously close to Arcee's right optic. Fortunately for her, he decided to pull away as it was not the right time for this. He looked around at the other two Autobots.

"To gut _all_ of you. But," he began walking towards an opening leading to a corridor, "first things first. Where does Optimus keep his _key ring_?"

He walked through the corridor, which had a long row of doors on each side. Each door had two wide windows, one at the top and one at the bottom. He went by each door and looked through the top window.

"Not here," he said at the first door and moved on to the two next ones. "Nope. No. Ergh," he said as he reached a door which room contained Airachnid, who was seemingly frozen inside a pod, though probably from more than just the hyper-speed effect. She seemed to be in stasis. "I was wondering what happened to that wretch." _So they probably don't think 'I' was killed by her then…_

He moved on, but got frustrated by the next useless room, due to time pressure.

"Grrrr, do they think I have all day?" he snarled.

Finally, the next room contained what he was seeking. Three, shiny, ancient-looking keys identical to the one he had back in the Harbinger, sealed away behind a blue energy wall.

"Ahhh, there you are," he said relieved, then began speculating how to best retrieve them. He knew only one way, but it would also give away his position, even in hyper-speed.

"Here goes nothing," he said, took a few steps back and launched his right arm-missile at the door.

It was the slowest explosion Starscream had ever witnessed. He watched the door slowly shatter to pieces and splinters, pushed into the air by a red and yellow cloud, fading slowly into the air, sparks flying towards him in slow-motion. Just like the arrival of the GroundBridge, this was very fascinating, but he didn't have time to stick around and watch.

He carefully made his way through the mid-air rubble into the room. Every time one of the tiny slow sparks touched his armor on his way in, he felt the intense heat sting him like needles; despite hyper-speed protecting him from lethal or otherwise bad impacts, it apparently did not have an effect on temperature.

It was nothing compared to what happened when he got inside the room though; as he got inside, he suddenly felt the immense cramping pain in his chest again, and he crouched together and fell on the floor.

 _No, not now,_ he thought in panic. _Please, not now!_

The pain subsided quickly, fortunately, and the Seeker got back on his legs and stood in front of the keys. The energy wall flickered slowly, then disappeared, probably as a result of the explosion, which had now subsided. He grabbed the large keys and walked out of the room, through the corridor and back to the command center from the way he came.

The Autobots had naturally noticed the explosion; long, thin water droplets were standing still in the air, the bottom ones slowly splashing onto the floor, while the Autobots were standing in surprised poses. He walked over to them, thrilled to finally have some fun.

"Now that I have your trinkets, I'm free to enjoy slitting your—"

He gasped in terror as he saw Arcee with her servo on the GroundBridge switch – and it was almost at the top, sliding very slowly, but fast enough that he did not have enough time to 'entertain' himself.

"But, as I appear to be pressed for time…"

He strutted his way out through the GroundBridge in a brisk pace, not running because he did not want his limbs to fall off, which he was pretty sure would happen if he tried running again – last time he was lucky to get away with only soreness.

He had been just in time, as when he got out through the other end, the GroundBridge closed behind him almost immediately. He gasped as Optimus, Ratchet and Bulkhead stood right in front of him, slowly moving their limbs around, apparently taking on their battle stances.

" **Aauutobbotss…** " Optimus said in the same slow, dopy way he had heard Bulkhead and Smokescreen speak in earlier, though with a very slightly faster pace. " **Mmaaiinntaaiinn … posiitiionnss…** " Coming from Prime, it sounded fragging hilarious.

Starscream chuckled in amusement.

"I'm sorry, what was that? Mblemblemble!" He walked right past them between Optimus and Ratchet, unaware of what the slight increase in speed meant. "You Autobots think you're so superior."

He turned around to look at them. "But you know what you really are? _Slow!_ "

In an unexpected twist, Optimus slowly turned his gaze to behind him, looking at the Seeker. He had heard him. He had _seen_ him. Which could only mean one thing…

As if someone had just pressed the fast-forward button on a remote, the slow-motioned Autobots now regained the same speed as Starscream, and Optimus turned around and pointed his cannon directly at him. He gulped – his hyper-speed was gone like the wind.

"The red energon wore off, didn't it…?" the Seeker giggled nervously, while Prime was pointing his weapon threateningly at him.

"He has the Omega Keys!" Ratchet exclaimed.

Starscream let out a scream as another cramp went through his chest. Instead of crouching together, however, he swung his arm, hitting Prime's blaster away, and launched his missile at the ground between Ratchet and Bulkhead. They managed to dodge it in time, but the distraction allowed the Seeker to run off and clumsily pull out his GroundBridge remote. He hadn't even noticed the cramping had already subsided; all he was focused on was getting to safety.

"Come on!" he said frantically as the Autobots started chasing after him and firing at him. He was in such a panic, that the remote almost fell out of his servo as he ran, but he managed to catch it in the last second and summon the GroundBridge back to the Harbinger.

The Autobots were catching up to him, and one blast just barely brushed the edge of his wing as he jumped through the portal, landed back in the ship and quickly shut it off again.

He gasped, his spark beating wildly in excitement. He sat down on the floor and let the keys slide down in front of him, while he took a rest.

* * *

 _Starscream's log_

Entry #35

I've done it.

I have infiltrated the Autobots' secret base.

Not only that, but I have retrieved all four Omega Keys.

Supposedly, they have the power to restore Cybertron to its Golden Age. I snatched the first key from Smokescreen, thanks to one of my two doses of the red energon I acquired some time ago. The three last ones, I got from their base.

I have the power to revive Cybertron right now, make myself the ultimate lord of the Cybertronian race, ruler of Cybertron, Emperor of Destruction…

But…alas…I lack the resources to perform such a task.

All I have left right now is the ship, its operation tools, and the GroundBridge in it. All my energon is gone, even the red one, because I spent the other dose on infiltrating the Autobot base.

Though these keys may mean great power, they also mean great responsibility, something which I am incapable of.

If I can barely keep myself alive, how am I supposed to rule over an entire _planet_?

Besides, it is unlikely that I will have as much luck stealing energon from a mine without help as I did the first time.

But…that's alright. Because I have already made my decision.

I will return to the Decepticon warship.

I will return to Lord Megatron.

I have been a fool. Made mistakes. Monumental ones.

I now know I was never destined to be a leader, nor even an equal partner. And, I am at peace with that.

For I have gained a clearer understanding of my place in this universe.

Of who I am. Of who I was _always_ meant to be.

Starscream. Second-in-command. Humble servant to Lord Megatron.

This is my last log entry.

I will not be coming back.

Goodbye…Heralds of Unicron.

I am going home.

* * *

Starscream spent the next few cycles finding the coordinates to the Nemesis; although the warship was moving, the Harbinger had somehow managed to lock onto its base coordinates. He set the coordinates to the GroundBridge, opened the portal and left the remote on the table. He had no intentions of returning to this ship, ever again. He had set the remote to be a timer, giving him two cycles to get through the portal until it would automatically close by itself, thus preventing anyone from going back.

He grabbed the four Omega Keys and the T-cog and looked around in the ship one final time. His optics fell on shelf filled with energon prods, tracking devices and the surgery tools from his interrupted self-surgery. Despite the lack of resources on the Harbinger now, there were still plenty of weapons, tools and other technology aboard. As he did not have room enough for it all, he took only the tracking devices, put them away and then left through the portal.

His spark made a jolt as he appeared in the Nemesis' command center. Nobody was around. He had the chance to make a surprise.

He hid behind the wall by the instrument panel as the door opened, revealing Megatron and Dreadwing walking in. The warlord's right arm had been replaced by a crimson arm. Starscream wondered why he hadn't chosen the left arm – after all, now Megs couldn't use his fusion cannon anymore.

"I cannot allow Optimus Prime to be the one to revive Cybertron," Megatron said in an angry tone. "We _will_ locate the Autobot base, invade it, and retrieve the Omega Keys!"

Starscream decided it was time for revelation and left his hiding place, instead leaning onto the instrument panel.

"Been there, done that," he said casually.

It was obvious that Megatron was not pleased with the Seeker's presence, so Starscream decided to play his cards quickly and in the right order.

"Please, pardon my unannounced visit," he said and bowed, then looked up. "… _Lord Megatron_."

Dreadwing pulled forth his blaster cannon, but Megatron held a servo on the first lieutenant's shoulder, signaling him to stay put, earning a puzzled reaction from Dreadwing himself. Megatron was looking at Starscream in interest.

Starscream took advantage of the opportunity and pulled forth the four Omega Keys, displaying them like a set of cards. He smiled gleefully.

"But I have come, bearing a _peace offering._ "


	18. Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

* * *

Starscream could not describe himself as being anything but relieved.

After his arrival back on the Nemesis, bringing the Omega Keys as an "I'm-home"-gift, Megatron – among other Decepticons such as Dreadwing – still had his doubts about letting Starscream back into his fold, giving his far too bad reputation and criminal record, most of all his attempts at the warlord's life. Although Megatron would indeed accept the keys, he had _considered_ vaporizing Starscream anyway.

But Starscream put that consideration in dilemma, listing several – although poorly executed – reasons to take him back. Most of all, the Seeker just wanted to have shelter, food and company again, tired of living in the wild. But he did sometimes come up with some sneaky, rather deceitful plans, being truly worthy of the name _Decepticon_ , purely because of his nature. And Megatron knew this.

To decide what to do with the prodigal Decepticon, Knock Out linked the Seeker and Megatron to the cortical psychic patch, to learn about Starscream's true intentions.

Starscream was naturally embarrassed by the very first memory they looked into – the moment after Megatron's 'demise' at the space bridge, after which Starscream had proclaimed himself leader of the Decepticons…followed by a _victory dance_ , with the surrounding Vehicons shouting " _All hail Starscream!_ "

Starscream himself was highly embarrassed, Megatron was amused, and Knock Out found it 'juicy'.

They then looked at the other memories of Starscream, particularly the ones where he was being treacherous, pathetic and struggling in the wild as a rogue. It was such that Megatron learned he was unable to transform, but Starscream (in his subconscious) assured him that he would be more valuable _with_ wings, and that he transformed with a certain sense of style…which was followed by the Seeker wincing embarrassed yet again.

For some reason, Starscream managed to avoid showing memories of the Heralds of Unicron, Nightbird and in particular Creop Trivem. He had the intention of simply forgetting about them, as he most likely would not see them again, now that he was back aboard the Nemesis, safe and sound…and if _that_ wouldn't happen, at least he would go out, knowing he _still_ wouldn't meet another one of those annoying Heralds. Not that they would stop trying to keep him safe, that is, he remembered later on.

Another few memories Megatron got to witness was Starscream and Knock Out planning their betrayal towards Megatron once more (which made Knock Out almost cut the cord on Megatron, but was stopped by Dreadwing and excused it as the wire being loose), Starscream summoning Skyquake, Dreadwing's late brother, and finally, how Starscream lost his arm after injecting dark energon into himself to raise Skyquake from the dead.

Then finally, Megatron announced to the anxious Seeker that he had decided to keep him around and alive, in return that he obeyed his every command and remembered his place. He also mentioned that the Seeker was more valuable to him as an ally than as an enemy, which he was rather glad to hear.

Starscream promised; he didn't even care about not being the first lieutenant anymore – he was just joyful to have finally returned to the Decepticons again.

After returning to the real world, Megatron ordered Knock Out to patch up Starscream and to replace his T-cog. The warlord left the two of them alone to do it – Dreadwing had disappeared before the cortical psychic patch was disconnected, but no one cared to ask where or why.

"So, are we ready to begin?" Knock Out asked with delight, turning his arm into a circular saw, his favorite operation tool.

"Yes," Starscream replied, looking a bit concerned at the saw. "Just make sure to put me in stasis before you touch me with that thing. Ugh," he said as another well-known cramp pained his chest, making him crouch a little on the surgery table.

"Is something the matter?" Knock Out changed his saw back into a servo and looked a bit concerned at the Seeker. "Has the life of a rogue been hard on you?"

"You go and see for yourself," Starscream snapped. "I've been having this _intolerable_ pain in my chest area for months, and something is depleting me of energon faster than I can refuel. I think I might have some kind of energon worm."

"Ooh, those are nasty," the doctor replied.

"Yes, very. Now, since you're fixing me up and replacing my T-cog and everything, perhaps you could also take a look at my chest? If you find anything unusual in there, _get it out!_ I want to get back to my normal, pain-free self again! I want to _fly_ again!"

"Alright, alright, calm your thrusters," Knock Out said. "I'll take a look. I'll put you in stasis now, so I can begin my work."

"Finally! I hope to see good end results… _doctor_."

Knock Out set the machine to stasis mode and watched as the Seeker grew dopy and slowly closed his red optics.

"See you on the other side."

* * *

As Starscream had slipped into stasis, Knock Out was eager to get on with cutting open his body to work. However, giving the Seeker's request about the chest, and his apparent pain – plus the fact that energon worms could easily spread their eggs to other hosts – made him first take his scanner and analyze the condition of the former Air Commander.

He did indeed seem to be badly depleted of energon, and the depletion continued at an alarming rate. It could very well be an energon worm.

"Scrap, what if he _is_ infected?" Knock Out mumbled to himself. "I'd have to terminate him to spare the rest of the ship, not to mention myself. But however much fun that would be, I have to be sure. Now, where's my x-ray…"

He grabbed his x-ray device – the same one he had just recently used on the Autobot named Smokescreen to find the last Omega Key inside him – and held it over the Seeker's chest. What he saw made his energon freeze like ice.

"Well, _this_ is interesting…"

* * *

Everything was covered in darkness. Starscream did not know if he was wary or unconscious, but all he could see was blackness. He didn't know who he was or where he was. He couldn't even remember if he was alive or dead. He was blind, deaf, silent. He was just a helpless spark, lost in the darkness.

"Wakie-wakie," a blurry voice said, out of the blue – or rather, black. It sounded familiar somehow, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Then, suddenly, the darkness disappeared; memories returned to him, his senses came back, and he opened his optics, to find himself back upon the warship. He felt different than before. Better, stronger, faster. _Whole_.

"Rise and shine," Knock Out croaked. "Your T-cog transplant was a success. Yes, I am just that good."

Starscream sat up, feeling around on himself. He held out his arms. The next second, his servos had turned into blasters. He rejoiced. He could transform again! Finally!

"Ahh, I cannot wait to fly again!" he said cheerfully and got up on his peds.

"Uh, yeah, hey, Starscream," Knock Out stumbled a bit over the words. "There is something you should know first…"

"And? What is it?" the Seeker snarled impatiently with his servos on his hips. "Speak up!"

"Uh…well…how to explain this…"

Before Starscream could complain about Knock Out's delayed explanation, he suddenly felt an extraordinary painful cramp in his chest, the most painful one to date. He crouched together and glared at Knock Out in disbelief.

"I…I thought you had removed that pesky energon worm! Why in the name of Primus would you leave it be?!"

"Yeah, no, that's not an energon worm," Knock Out said and picked up his x-ray device. "This may come as a shock to you…it came as a shock to _me_ , anyways…"

He showed a recorded image on the x-ray to Starscream. The pain in his chest subsided, and he removed his servos from his chest and took the device to take a better look at the image.

The image displayed the Seeker's chest from the inside; all the internal organs, along with his spark and…six colorful lights surrounding his spark. Each light was in a different color of the rainbow: Red, blue, yellow, green, purple and pink. The colors triggered a memory from several months ago.

 _Creop Trivem. These are the 'energon pellets' he gave me, I'm sure of it. So they ARE the ones giving me such misery. But why? What are they? And why are they so big now? They've almost filled out my entire chest area..._

"Yes, they are very pretty colors," Starscream snarled annoyed, "but I do not care about rainbows in my chest if it makes my life miserable! So I ask again: _Why did you not remove it?!_ "

"Look, I thought they were energon worms too when I first looked at them," Knock Out explained. "But then I changed it to infrared, and…well, see for yourself."

Starscream rolled his optics in annoyance, but nonetheless switched the x-ray to infrared. The colorful lights disappeared, and instead, six small figures appeared where the lights had been. At first they just looked like yellow and red blobs, but then Knock Out pressed another button, and suddenly, one of them _moved_. Arms and legs were sticking out, servos and peds were kicking against what seemed to be a round wall surrounding them. At one point, a crack opened on one of the creatures, revealing what seemed to be…an _optic_.

Starscream stared breathless at the video. A long cycle passed, until Knock Out broke the ice and answered Starscream's unspoken question.

"You're carrying protoforms," he said.

Starscream stared from the video to Knock Out, back at the video and then back at Knock Out again.

"I'm… _WHAT?!_ " he shouted, very abruptly, making the doctor wince.

"Well, uh," Knock Out said uncomfortably. "It seems you've somehow gained…uh… _possession_ of some little sparklings. According to the scanner, you've been carrying for almost five months. You…" Knock Out didn't seem especially comfortable saying the next words. "Uh, during your time as a rogue, you didn't happen to stumble upon someone who…"

"No! Quiet!" Starscream yelled hysterically at the doctor – who winced back, having expected this reaction – aggravated by his assumption. "By Unicron, keep your mindless thoughts to yourself! I haven't interfaced with _anyone_ , ever! Never have, never will!"

"Then how do you explain the protoforms?" Knock Out pointed out, while trying to ignore the yelling.

Starscream was about to yell again, but then his thoughts returned to Creop Trivem. It _had_ been him who had given him the pre-developed embryos, but had the mech actually _known_ what they really were? The way he had explained to him that they were merely power-inducing, super-refueling energon pellets made him seem sincere. Perhaps he was just an excellent actor. Yes, that was probably what it was. An act. He _knew_ what he was giving the Seeker, and he knew what it would entail.

"So _that_ is the reason for my constant hunger," Starscream mumbled to himself, as he began calming down. "These protoforms inside me are draining my energon for themselves. But what's with the cramping pain I occasionally get?"

"That would be the protoforms growing and kicking against their wombs and your chest," Knock Out explained, relieved he had finally stopped yelling. "I suspect they are also beginning to heat up, which is a sign that they are almost complete, and the heat damages your internal organs as well, so—"

"Wait wait," Starscream interrupted. "Did you say 'almost complete'? What do you mean by that? That they're…coming out?"

"Yes, more or less. Though I am a bit concerned on that point…"

Starscream snorted and pushed Knock Out away, returning the x-ray back to him.

"You know what? I don't want to know. I don't care even if I have a million Scraplets inside me. All I want to do right now is spread out my wings, take flight and soar among the clouds."

"Starscream," a deep voice sounded behind them, startling the Seeker. It was Dreadwing, and he did not look happy. "I regret to inform you that you will not live to spread your wings," he pulled out his blaster cannon, " _ever again_!"

Starscream winced, trembling in fear and ducked as Dreadwing fired his cannon, hitting the wall behind them. In a panic, Starscream ran towards a corner while Knock Out went for the door.

"Knock Out! Help me!" he exclaimed desperately.

The doctor escaped, leaving Starscream behind with Dreadwing. With his spark skipping a beat, the Seeker recalled Airachnid leaving him behind for the Autobots. Knock Out had betrayed him, just like she had. Only this time, the Seeker's fate was at the mercy of someone who seemed determined to kill him, rather than to simply take him prisoner.

Dreadwing dropped his cannon and instead drew his sword, while walking towards Starscream. The smaller Seeker felt his servo around the floor and grabbed a durabillium drill, which he held in front of him. It wasn't exactly the most effective weapon, but there was nothing else at his disposal at the moment. He hadn't considered his missiles or lasers, but they probably wouldn't be very effective against the huge Seeker anyway.

"Dreadwing!" he said exasperated. "What has gotten into you?"

Dreadwing responded by slicing the drill over in half. Starscream threw the useless handle away and crawled backwards, trying to think of a way out of this mess. A horrid realization came to his mind.

"Uh—We—Uh—This is about Skyquake, isn't it?" he stuttered and laughed nervously. "Eh, I thought we had put that behind us!"

" _So had I!_ " Dreadwing shouted and swung his sword against the smaller Seeker. He just managed to duck in time with a scream to keep his head.

"Casualties – are an unfortunate consequence of war!" Starscream exclaimed, trying to reason with Dreadwing. "But I assure you your twin met his end with great honor!"

" _Which you DISGRACED!_ " Dreadwing bellowed with anger. " _By raising him from the DEAD!_ "

Starscream's fear had been confirmed. "Oh, you know about that," he said and looked around for something else to stop the bigger Seeker, then went on to wail desperately. "Please, have mercy with me! I—I'm expecting!"

"If you are expecting mercy, I must disappoint you. There is _no mercy_ for what you have done!"

Starscream almost began to cry in despair. He really wished one of the Heralds of Unicron was here right now.

"There must be _something_ I can do! Some form of reparation I can offer you to alleviate your anguish!"

"YOUR SPARK WILL SUFFICE!" Dreadwing lifted his sword and prepared to execute the Seeker.

"DREADWING!" a far-familiar voice sounded from the door.

It was Megatron. Dreadwing looked at the warlord but did not lower his sword. Starscream lay stiffly on the floor, never having been so happy and relieved to see the Decepticon leader as he was right now. Megatron would handle things.

"Stand down!" Megatron ordered.

"This… _desecrater_ ," Dreadwing bellowed while pointing at Starscream, who wasn't all so confident about Megatron's assistance anymore, "must _pay_ for his actions!"

"YOU CALL THIS _LOYALTY_ , MASTER?!" Starscream screamed in disbelief at Megatron.

"I said _stand down_ ," Megatron said to Dreadwing in a deadly serious tone. "That is an _order_."

To Starscream's horror, Dreadwing looked back at him with a determined look.

"One which I cannot follow," he said and lifted his sword. Starscream let out a scream and covered his head with an arm, waiting for the inevitable.

BAM!

Dreadwing dropped his sword and fell to the floor with his spark chamber having been blasted completely to smithereens. Behind him stood Megatron with the dead first lieutenant's blaster cannon in his servos. Both the cannon and the mech's blown chest were smoking and seething from the blast. Starscream gasped in exasperation while staring at the dead Dreadwing lying right in front of him. He held a servo on his chest as another cramp had presented itself, but it was ignored by the scene he had just witnessed and been part of.

"I'm okay…I'M OKAY!" he exclaimed and laughed in relief. He spread out his arms and bowed when Megatron approached him. "Lord Megatron, you have my eternal thanks."

Megatron was not one bit happy about the situation.

"Do not _ever_ make me regret which one of you I spared," he hissed, making Starscream's smile fade. The warlord went out the door and left the dead and alive Seekers, seething with anger.

Knock Out came in a little while afterwards, still appalled by the episode. Starscream stood up and scowled at the doctor; he had not forgotten how the red mech had left him behind at Dreadwing's mercy. As he approached Starscream, he took on a not-very-convincing casual behavior.

"Heeey, Starscream! How's it swinging, my man? I just want to tell you, you've always been my number one patient in all of—"

Starscream slapped Knock Out across the faceplate, shutting him up. Then he started scolding him.

"How dare you leave me behind for that _psycho_ to extinguish my spark! You betrayed me! You're just like that wretch Airachnid!"

"Hey, I didn't betray you," Knock Out protested and nudged his face. "I went and got Lord Megatron, and he saved your chassis, didn't he?"

A sudden thought made Starscream flinch. "You didn't tell him, did you?"

"Well, of course I did. How else would he know you were in danger and—"

"I'm talking about the you-know-what!" he snapped. "Did you?"

"No. I was in a bit of a hurry, and as soon as I said Dreadwing was going to frag you, His Lordship stormed off to your rescue."

Starscream looked to each side to make sure Laserbeak wasn't nearby, then he pulled Knock Out close to him.

"We have to keep this between us, understand?" he whispered, even though they were alone. "Don't tell anyone, especially Lord Megatron."

"Why not?" Knock Out asked lowly, uncomfortable about the Seeker's grip. "Do you really think he will be mad? I mean, you've basically returned home with additional troops!"

"If anyone learns about this… _delicate_ situation of mine, I will never hear the end of it. If you tell _anyone_ …" He drew a claw close to the attentive doctor. "I will take it out on your precious _finish_."

Knock Out gulped and nodded. "Yes, of course! Nobody will hear a thing, promise!"

Satisfied with the answer and reaction, Starscream pulled away from Knock Out. "Well, you better get on with deciphering the Omega Keys then."

Knock Out brought forth the keys and laid them on the table, pulled forth a scanner and started examining the items.

"Honestly, Starscream, I did not expect Lord Megatron to kill his first lieutenant to save you. I mean, Dreadwing was possibly his most loyal and competent second-in-command to date, while _you_ …well, you've tried the master's life more times than I can count."

"Thank you for the reminder, Knock Out," Starscream said sarcastically. "Well, to be honest, I didn't expect him to save me either. But, considering what I have been through these last four months, this was an acceptable surprise."

"Well, other than finding out you're carrying, I guess?" Knock Out said absentminded while scanning one of the keys.

"Yes, now let's please stop talking about that." Though as Knock Out had mentioned it, there was one other thing that bugged the Seeker.

"Actually, I do have a question about…that. You said before that the protoforms were almost complete," he said uncertain. "When are they going to come?"

"Well, judging by how big they are," Knock Out said absentminded while scanning one of the keys, "I'd say one or two weeks. Maybe even less."

Starscream frowned. That wasn't very long. He had to prepare for their arrival sooner than he'd like. Which put another uncomfortable question into mind.

"How…will they come out?"

Knock Out paused his scanning and crossed his arms, slightly in irritation.

"Yes, that's where I'm concerned. See, you know how protoforms normally hatch from eggs? Well, information regarding hatchlings won't really help here, since you're carrying them within your own body. And not only has _hatchlings_ not existed for eons so much information has been lost on them, there isn't actually that much information on _sparklings_ , so..." As he noticed Starscream's impatient expression, he decided to be more direct. "But, what I do know is, they're gonna come out with a bang. Like, a real _bang_."

Starscream gulped, not sure he actually had wanted to know that.

"But don't worry, when you feel those little suckers about to blow, come straight to me and we'll take care of it together," he said and smirked. Starscream snorted. Did he really think all this was _funny_?

"Just keep working on those keys, _doctor_."


	19. Interlogue

INTERLOGUE

* * *

First Aid groaned, lying helpless and battered on the floor, unable to do anything to stop the Scraplets from getting to the nursery and feast on the defenseless hatchlings, crying out for help. Creop Trivem was kneeling in front of him, smiling menacingly.

"Do whatever you want with me," First Aid said through gritted teeth as the wailing continued, "but please, spare the hatchlings. They're probably the last ones on Cybertron."

"I know," Creop simply responded. He grabbed First Aid's shoulder – what was left of it, anyway – and rose up, then held his other servo on the other shoulder. There was a significant size difference between the medic and the tall mech, who was almost twice the former's size. He stared at the mech with one optic; First Aid's visor had been shattered from the Scraplet attack, and one of his blue optics underneath had been devoured immediately.

"What…are you going to do…?" he said hoarsely.

Creop didn't answer. Instead, the red pearl on his chest began glowing brightly. It opened up and revealed a pink spark. First Aid's own spark flickered, still anxious. In a swift movement, Creop pulled First Aid close, until their sparks touched.

The impact created a small explosion which sent First Aid flying into the wall behind him – Creop only took a step back in recoil and regained his balance. From the explosion appeared six small, bright sparks, smaller than an optic. They were sparklings – newborn sparks.

Ignoring First Aid's surprised moaning, Creop pulled out an orange capsule, filling out his entire servo. He opened the capsule to reveal a dark liquid metal in the bottom part.

"Now, First Aid," he said, "if you are still awake, you shall now witness the power of Transformium." He looked at the sparklings. "Get in, little ones."

The sparklings went into the liquid Transformium, as if attracted magnetically to it. They then enveloped themselves in the dark metal, creating a protective wall around them. In the next few nano-cycles, they had become small, black metal pellets, barely the size of the tip of his finger.

Creop closed the capsule with the pellets inside, then went over to First Aid by the cracked wall.

"Now, where do you keep your energon cubes?" he asked with a deep voice.

"L-like I'd tell you…"

"I am capable of finding them myself, you know. You may as well give up. You are not going to win this battle. Sorry." He added the last word with a smile.

The loud wailing from the nursery ceased. First Aid sighed hopelessly. He was right. It didn't matter what he did. This battle was lost.

"O-over by the shelf…" he grumbled defeated.

Creop walked over to the shelf pointed out for him. On the third top row were several empty cubes in different sizes. He took six of the smallest ones, about the size of the tip of his thumb.

"These will do nicely. Now, where do you keep that artificial energon you talked about? Oh, wait, never mind, I found it."

It was two rows below the cube row. He took a vial filled with pink energon, unplugged it and poured the containment into one of the empty cubes until it was filled up. He put the empty vial back in place and put the cubes away along with the capsule. He turned around and looked at First Aid.

"Thank you for your assistance. You shall not be forgotten."

A whirring sound came from the hallway, and then the Scraplets flew into the reception room while still chewing on some leftover metal they had brought with them into the room. The sight made First Aid's energon freeze like ice, almost killing his spark; the Scraplets had feasted merrily upon his hatchlings. The Scraplets were hovering, shuddering restlessly, waiting for Creop's command.

He looked at the devastated First Aid and smiled. He lifted his servo and snapped his fingers. Before the medic could react in any way, the Scraplets were all over him, eating what was left of the Protectobot.

Creop did not stay behind to watch First Aid's demise to the finish. The pearl on his chest began glowing, and then he disappeared with a _plop!_

* * *

Creop walked around in a canyon, looking for a particular mech. Everything seemed the same as in the real world, except slightly grayish, and there were certain things that were untouchable. The Shadowzone was a strange place indeed, but nonetheless it had something of importance to him.

Suddenly, right up ahead in front of him, he found his mech. A tall, dark green, one-armed Seeker whose armor had seen better days. The walking corpse of Skyquake, wandering around in this limbo, searching for his missing arm. But it wasn't the mech that interested him. It was what was _inside_ him.

Skyquake noticed Creop's presence and walked sloppily towards him while emitting groans and grunts, holding out his remaining left arm at him. Creop did not move an inch. He knew how to handle this.

As the zombie approached the dark mech, he drew forth a long sword with a dark green hilt and black ornaments on the bottom of the blade, glowing in a similar green light. In a swift movement, he swung his sword and sliced Skyquake in half on the vertical side. The two halves fell to the ground on each side because of the weight, but they kept moving around.

Creop ignored the flailing of the zombie-halves and kneeled down by the left half. He dug his servo into its chest and pulled out a shard of dark energon.

As soon as the dark energon had been removed from the zombie, all parts went limp and then still, as if they had never been reanimated to begin with.

"Two down," Creop said before he disappeared, "four to go."

* * *

Creop looked down into the hole before jumping down and landing hard on his legs as he hit the bottom. He looked around before choosing a path and walked through the abandoned and stripped energon mine.

He smiled as he found a green stain on the floor in the corridor. He kneeled down and brought forth an empty cube, scooping up as much of the synthetic energon as he could, until the cube had been filled.

"Three left," he said as he put it away and disappeared with a _plop!_

* * *

Creop was looking forward to his next destination. He arrived in a harbor with several warehouses and hangars.

A lot of noise told him there was a battle going on. He looked to the side and saw Optimus Prime fighting a dark copy of himself at the top of a hangar. He drew forth his sword but did not do anything yet. He had to wait for the right moment.

Suddenly, Optimus Prime punched Nemesis Prime through the roof. Now was the time…to _stop_.

Both the sword and the pearl in his chest began glowing brightly, the sword in green and the pearl in red. A white wave flowed away from him across the entire area, the entire _world_.

At first, it seemed as if nothing had happened, but then everything _froze_. Optimus Prime stood completely still in his recoiling pose, Nemesis Prime stayed in the falling frame through the cracked floor which had large chunks floating around it without falling down. Helicopters were stuck still in the air with the rotors sticking out like spikes.

Creop Trivem put his sword away and walked casually across the ground towards the hangar. There were no entrances large enough for him to enter, but that was no problem for him. His pearl glowed, and with a _plop,_ he was now inside the building. Several humans were scattered across the room, in particular a scarred man right underneath Nemesis Prime, looking up at the incoming mech in horror. In the next second, Silas Bishop would be crushed underneath the huge mech's weight and later be revived inside the body of Breakdown, the deceased Decepticon.

But not this time. Creop had plans.

He walked over and picked up each frozen human and held them in his arms like they were toy soldiers. He placed Silas at the top before warping out of there.

He appeared in a forest where he put down each of the MECH soldiers and Silas on their legs. He stood straight and snapped his fingers. Suddenly time began moving again, and the humans screamed in fear and fell on the ground, despite Creop having carefully and thoroughly placed each one of them on their feet. He sighed.

"Wh-what? the soldiers exclaimed in confusion, looking around at the trees.

"What is this?"

"What?"

"What just happened?"

"Where are we?"

"Commander Bishop!"

Silas looked just as perplexed as the soldiers, but instead of staring at the trees he stared at Creop Trivem. He was the only human who had not fallen down when time had begun moving again.

"Who are you?" he asked, hiding his shock rather well. The soldiers looked up, having first noticed Creop now and aimed their weapons at him.

"Do not be alarmed," Creop said and uncovered his faceplate, smiling. "I have no intent to hurt any of you. Quite the opposite, I need you to do something for me."

"And what exactly does an…" he looked at the yellow Unicron insignia on Creop's wings, "… _extraterrestrial_ like yourself need _us_ for?"

Creop hesitated before he spoke his words. "When you find a red crystal the 18th this month, you must deliver it to me."

Silas squinted at the mech. He seemed to be contemplating whether he was trying to mess with them or not.

"And what if I refuse?" he asked suspiciously.

"You owe me your lives," Creop pointed out. "And if you do not cooperate, I can make sure you will never have been born." He spoke with a deadly serious tone, one which confirmed for Silas that this mech was not someone you messed around with. Still, Silas was not entirely satisfied with the answer.

"What do I get in return?" he asked, as if he hadn't heard what Creop had just said.

"You humans are certainly greedy life forms, aren't you," Creop replied slightly impatiently, looking sternly at the soldiers with still-raised weapons. A signal from Silas made them lower their weapons. "Very well. When you give me the crystal, I shall grant you all the knowledge of Cybertronian technology there exists."

"And you're not afraid that we're going to use it against your people?"

Creop laughed. "Where I come from, there is no such thing as danger. You can do whatever you want in this time. All that matters to me is the future."

His pearl glowed, signaling he was about to leave. Silas made a gesture for him to wait.

"Where do I find this red crystal?"

Creop thought for a moment. "I'll give you a hint. _Blood is thicker than water._ I will find you when it's time."

And without another word, he disappeared with a _plop!_

* * *

Creop looked around as he appeared on a dirt road. He wasn't completely certain where MECH was going to meet him, but not long after the thought had passed his mind he saw the cavalry of green cars, similar to the Autobot Bumblebee, driving down the road behind him. He turned around and smiled satisfied as he saw a trailer behind the middle car, carrying the red energon crystal with a white cover to shield it from onlookers.

The cars stopped right in front of him, and from the front car stepped out Silas.

"Well?" Creop said, wanting to let the human play his role.

"We have your red energon. I suppose when you said 'blood is thicker than water', that you meant the crystal was at the harbor?"

"You could say that," he replied modestly.

"Now, I believe you said something about Cybertronian technology?"

"Yes, right, about that. There has been a change of plans..."

Silas knew by the tone of his voice that the mech had lied to him. But Silas was not the kind of guy who just let giant alien robots do what they wanted with him.

"Cease him!" he ordered.

The soldiers began firing upon the large mech, but their weapons had no effect on his armor. Creop ignored their attempted attack and kneeled down by the trailer, removed the sheet and picked up the red energon chunk. It was just big enough to fit in his palm.

"This will do nicely," he said and rose up again, amused to see the humans' reactions when they realized their weapons had absolutely no effect whatsoever on the mech's armor. Silas was completely horrified by the outcome. He looked on stumped as Creop picked up the crystal without paying attention to the shots.

"But…but how?" he said in disbelief. "Those shots are designed to put out machines _bigger_ than you out of commission!"

"Oh, is that what they do? I had no idea. I'm sorry, but I don't have time to play your little games, humans. I have places to be, things to do, words to say…"

He was about to leave – Silas could see that by the pearl glowing – when the commander gestured him to wait once again.

"If you have so much power, then why did you need _our_ help to get the red energon? Why not just get it yourself?"

"I have my reasons. And you still have a role to play in this game. Play it well."

And then he disappeared to arrive at his next destination.

* * *

He arrived onboard the Nemesis. He had not been sure where to get regular energon, but as he already had two crystals, he decided it would be easier to just extract already refined energon. He wandered down the hallway without paying attention to anyone who might see him.

When he arrived at a fork, he met a pair of Vehicons who stopped in their tracks and pointed their blasters at him.

"Halt! You shall not pass!" one of the Vehicons shouted.

"Who are you?" the other Vehicon said.

Creop didn't answer them. He did not stop walking either; he just continued to walk past them down the path opposite of the one they came from. They didn't shoot at him but instead followed him in an uncertain pace, trying to determine what the Pit was going on.

"Don't you walk away from us!" the first Vehicon exclaimed. "You're under arrest, you hear? Stop ignoring us!"

It did not matter what came out from the Vehicon's mouth. Creop just continued his path to the storage room. He saw a pair of dead Vehicons lying by the door, and the light above them was blinking. He just walked over them and into the room.

The Vehicons saw the dead troopers on the ground and were about to fire when Creop finally spoke to them.

"Careful where you aim those," he said calmly and opened a cube. "If just one of these cubes gets hit, it's goodbye warship."

The Vehicons seemed unsure whether to attack the stranger or not. Creop liked the fact that the Vehicons were much more cooperative than those humans and the medic had been. It made everything easier. He took out a small empty cube and ran it through the big cube, scooping up enough energon to fill the cube, and then put it away again.

He rose up and turned to look at the Vehicon troopers.

"I'll see you some other time," he said and disappeared with a _plop_ , leaving the two Vehicon troopers behind in confusion.

"Should we report this to Lord Megatron?" the first Vehicon asked the second.

"No. We didn't see anything. Let's just clean up this mess."

* * *

Creop walked across the corridor into the laboratory. It was fascinating how the other half of the Harbinger had survived Unicron's first awakening, despite it sticking out from the cliff and being much more exposed than the half buried underground, which had been torn apart by the storm.

As he entered the lab, he saw that everything was as Starscream had left it; the surgery tools were still on the instrument panel over by the recharging table, the GroundBridge remote was still lying on the other table along with the Seeker's recorder, containing all his thirty-five logs. But the most important thing was that the refiner was still there and working.

Creop went over by the refiner and brought out the six cubes, both the three filled ones and the three empty ones. He took out the red and dark energon crystals and laid them beside the cubes. The dark crystal was seething with a bubbling hiss, and the red crystal was ringing with a lighter tone than the dark one. He took the dark shard and put it in the refiner.

He waited patiently a few cycles until the refiner beeped. A small amount of purple liquid energon was in the tank, but it was more than enough. He took one of the empty cubes and poured the dark energon into it until it was full. What little remains was left he threw on the floor and wiped the glass clean. It was utmost important that not a single stain remained to corrupt the red energon.

He then put the red crystal into the refiner and turned it on. Despite its small size and outcome, it would take at least a week for it to refine. But that was nothing Creop couldn't handle.

His pearl glowed brightly, and with a _plop_ he arrived a week later in the same spot at the exact same time, observing a small portion of the tank having been filled, the crystal almost completely gone.

The next cycle, the refiner beeped, signaling it was done. He took the next empty cube and poured the red energon into it. There was _just_ enough to fill the cube completely, but it also emptied the tank completely. Just as well, though. It made everything easier. Red energon was not something to just throw on the floor like the dark stuff.

Now five out of six cubes had been filled with a different kind of energon: Blue for regular, purple for dark, green for synthetic, pink for artificial and red for…well…red.

There was just one type of energon left to fill the last cube. Energon that was so rare, so scarce, with so little information to it, that it only existed in one particular place in the entire universe. Luckily, Creop Trivem just happened to be in possession of it.

He drew forth his long sword and held his right servo around the blade. Then, with all his strength, he squeezed, the sword cutting through his thick armor, making him leak. Instead of blue, however, he was leaking _yellow_ energon. He grunted a little in pain – pain that was all worth it.

He held the last empty cube underneath his leaking servo and watched as it filled up with golden energon. When the cube was completely filled up, he stopped squeezing the sword and put it away, closed the yellow cube and watched as the wounds on his servo healed instantly. He wiped off the yellow stains and placed the last cube beside the other cubes, lining them up.

"Now, it is time, little ones," he said and drew forth the orange capsule containing the six black pellets.

He opened it and put each of the pellets into a cube. He watched as the pellets enveloped themselves in the different kinds of energon: Artificial, dark, synthetic, red, regular and golden. They created thick wombs and turned into six colorful balls, glowing with bright and innocent lights.

Creop picked up the cubes and turned them upside-down, thus making the energon eggs fall out into his other servo. He put them into the capsule and put it away.

"It is done," he said as he rose up and warped out of the ship with another _plop!_

He arrived in a forest, where he was about to change everything that was originally supposed to happen. He walked among the trees until he heard a blast. He went towards the sound and found the back of a small, familiar gray Seeker kneeled at a burrow, having found a small energon site. He seemed to be talking to himself.

Creop smiled and put on his face-plate.

 _Let the countdown begin._


	20. Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18

* * *

"Of _course_ ," Megatron said satisfied with the holographic image of Cybertron before him. "Keys are useless without something to unlock."

After having spent several cycles of complaining about Knock Out's slow progress in deciphering the Omega Keys, Starscream had tried to fix the problem himself…by beating the Omega Key against the table, earning a mocking comment from Knock Out himself. The Seeker had responded to the insult by slicing the key across the doctor's finish, thus enraging him. He had then grabbed a key himself and they clashed their keys, which resulted in them _locking together_.

More interested in their discovery than their fight, the two mechs had then joined the two other keys with the locked ones, and thus appeared an image of Cybertron with a red signal on the northern hemisphere. That had to be the place to insert the keys and thus restore Cybertron.

Megatron looked over his shoulder, gaze fixed at Soundwave and the delighted Starscream and Knock Out.

"Target the space bridge for Cybertron," he ordered Soundwave, who obediently went off right away.

About twenty cycles or so later, Megatron was on the deck with a platoon of Vehicon fliers ready for his command, four of them holding each of the Omega Keys. Soundwave stood by, opening the space bridge, which was just above them – the Nemesis had exited the Earth's atmosphere for now to shorten the distance to the space bridge. Megatron glanced at Starscream standing next to the intelligence officer, equally ready for the warlord's orders.

"Starscream, you are in command while I'm gone."

It was an understatement to say that the Seeker was surprised, but nonetheless happy that Megatron had decided to make him his second-in-command after having only just returned to the Decepticons and indirectly caused Dreadwing's death a few mega-cycles ago.

"Oh, thank you, master!" he said ecstatically. "I will not fail you!"

Without another word, Megatron and the Vehicons transformed and flew towards the space bridge, heading for Cybertron.

* * *

Starscream stood by the monitor in the command center, along with Soundwave who had continued his work on their usual objective: Trying to locate the Autobots' base. It had taken them several months, but it seemed as if Soundwave was nearing a breakthrough. Starscream never really understood what was going on in the mind of that silent mech; he was always so secretive, never chatty, but he was a good listener. Still, it was impossible to do anything private with Soundwave around. He was the 'eyes and ears of the Decepticons', like Knock Out had once called him.

None of the other Decepticons were as blindly loyal to Megatron as Soundwave, not even Dreadwing. And Knock Out had seen for himself that although Soundwave was usually a pacifist, he could be quite scary in combat. Watch out for the quiet ones, he had said.

But despite his mysterious and creepy character, Soundwave was quite useful, even to Starscream who wasn't a too great fan, due to the mech constantly keeping an eye on him since he returned to the Nemesis. Because during his work of locating the Autobot base, Soundwave had found something interesting, something that would definitely come in handy.

He had located the Autobots' three pet humans. And they were alone. This was too good an opportunity to let alone.

"This will be fun," Starscream cackled, looking at the picture in Soundwave's visor which he had taken of the kids many months ago. "Please, Soundwave, go fetch our _guests_. And, um, tell Knock Out to come in here with a cube. I need to talk to him about something."

Soundwave didn't ask any questions, as usual, but simply nodded and left the command center. Starscream didn't know if Soundwave actually knew about his secret, but in case he didn't, he wanted to make sure it _stayed_ a secret. No one had to know about what he was carrying. It wasn't their business, not even Megatron's.

Being alone, Starscream turned back to the screen, looking at the picture of the kids. He smirked. It would be an easy task for Soundwave and his pet Laserbeak to capture the children and use them as hostages against the Autobots. Not that he doubted Megatron's abilities to restore Cybertron, but it was always good to have a plan B.

"Phase two: Unexpected acceptance, complete."

Starscream almost had a spark attack; the voice had come out of the blue, but it was far too familiar. He turned around with a servo on his chest and snarled as he saw Creop Trivem stand behind him, in the same sort of trance as last time they had met, but looking more solid than he had done in the ocean.

"By the AllSpark, can't you knock?!" the Seeker exclaimed angrily, but the large mech ignored him, spouting the same lines as last time:

" _The fallen star shall leave a scar._

 _The dragon's roar shall be heard._

 _And then the Dark Lord shall return._ "

Creop began glowing, as he usually did when he was about to disappear.

"Wait, no, don't go!" Starscream said and swiped at the mech in an attempt to grab him, but he merely went through the mech as he disappeared with a _plop!_

The door to the command center opened up, and in came Knock Out with a large energon cube in his right servo and a scanner in his left servo. As he saw the Seeker swiping through the air he blinked puzzled.

"Oh...kay, what did I miss?" he said as the door automatically closed behind him.

Starscream finally noticed the doctor and straightened up, clearing his throat. "Nothing, it was nothing."

Knock Out shrugged and walked over to the Seeker. "Here's your cube."

"Oh, thank you," Starscream said and swiped the cube from the doctor's servos, flipped the cube on the side and guzzled its full content within ten nano-cycles. Knock Out stared at him in wonder.

"Wow, you must be _really_ hungry," he said.

"Mmmm, you _think_?" the Seeker said as he emptied the cube and sighed, wiping stains off his faceplate. "Alright, get on with it while we're alone. Soundwave will not take too long fetching the Autobots' pets."

Knock Out sighed. "Coming right up."

Knock Out ran the scanner across Starscream's chest. Although it had only been a few mega-cycles since they learned of Starscream's 'pregnancy', such alone moments were rare aboard this ship, and the Seeker wanted to know how much had changed since they last checked. After all, he didn't know how fast protoforms grew inside a host.

"Well?" he asked impatiently, as Knock Out pulled the scanner away.

"Everything is the same as last time. We really don't have to do this every time we're alone, Starscream. Every second day would probably suffice, but every second _hour_ …"

"It's _Commander_ Starscream to you now, _doctor_ ," the Seeker corrected. "And I will be scanned when I want to be scanned. After all, _I'm_ the one carrying these things, not _you_!"

"Fine, fine, whenever you like. Still, you won't be able to hide this from Lord Megatron forever. Some day, it's going to come out."

"And when would that be, exactly?"

"Well, let's see… _when THEY come out!_ "

Starscream became thoughtful for a moment. He hadn't thought of that fact. He could hide his pregnancy for as long as he could from Megatron and the others, but once the sparklings arrived, there was no way he could keep that secret any longer.

"Well, it won't be that much of a problem once Cybertron has been restored. I will just find a nice, quiet place to have them, and afterwards you can take care of them when I'm out…"

"Me? Why do _I_ have to look after them?"

"Well, you're a medic! Surely you know more about sparklings than _I_ do."

" _Nobody_ knows anything about sparklings, they haven't existed for _eons_! And I'm _not_ going to be your _nursebot_ , just so you know."

"I can't look after six sparklings all by myself!"

"Well, they're _your_ problem, not mine!"

"They became your problem the moment we—"

The door opened, forcing Starscream and Knock Out to stop their argument and straighten up, looking casually and innocently at the two Vehicons entering the room.

"Commander Starscream," one of them announced. "Soundwave has returned."

"Ah, excellent," Starscream replied pleased. "Send him in."

* * *

After Soundwave had arrived with the kids, Knock Out had put them in canisters so they couldn't escape. It was just then that Megatron called the ship on the monitor.

" _Starscream!_ " the warlord's angry voice sounded through the comm. " _The Autobots have seized the Omega Keys! Send reinforcements immediately!_ "

"Actually, Lord Megatron," Starscream said, "Soundwave has been briefing me on recent developments, and we may have a more _effective_ solution."

He then explained the capture of the humans, and Megatron chuckled, sounding much more pleased through the comm. now.

" _Excellent. Starscream, take Soundwave and Knock Out with you to Cybertron. Bring the children. I am looking forward to Prime's reaction when he learns that I have won the war._ "

The comm. ended, and Starscream turned and looked at the Vehicons.

"You heard him! Give Knock Out the message. Soundwave and I will be waiting for him on the deck. Oh, one more thing…"

* * *

"Let us go, you creeps!" Miko exclaimed while kicking the glass on her canister.

"The Autobots will find us, and then you'll be in big trouble," Rafael said.

"Oh, but we _want_ to find them, little boy," Starscream snickered as he took the canister carrying Jack. "We show you to the Autobots, and they will have to give up their keys."

"And what if they don't?" Jack asked and beat once on his glass.

"Oh, they _will_ ," Knock Out said and handed Rafael over to Soundwave, while holding Miko himself. "But if they don't, well...you better write a testimony then."

Soundwave opened a portal to the space bridge. As they went through, Starscream was horrified to feel one of the well-known cramps from the protoforms inside his chest. He didn't crouch and tried not to wrench his face up. He couldn't stop a groan from leaving his throat though. Unfortunately, Knock Out noticed it and almost forgot about subtlety.

"Is something the matter, Commander Starscream?" His comment made Miko and Jack look at the Seeker – not Raf, because Soundwave was in the front and out of hearing range, as they exited the GroundBridge and appeared in front of the space bridge. Starscream shook his head as the pain subsided, just before they went through the space bridge.

"No, nothing," he replied bitterly. "I'm simply looking forward to seeing the Autobots' faces when we arrive with their pets in our possession!"

"Oh! Yeah, me too."

After a few nano-cycles, the three mechs and humans exited the space bridge and arrived on the barren, devastated planet of Cybertron, in something that looked like the former _Kaon_. Starscream's spark did a somersault; it was good to be back home, but at the same time it was sad to see their world this way: Destroyed, lifeless, empty. Megatron would soon change that, and they could all return to Cybertron again, perhaps even live in peace.

"Soundwave," Starscream said, renewed with determination to restore their home, "lock onto Lord Megatron's coordinates."

Soundwave opened a portal in front of them.

"Prepare yourselves, humans," Knock Out said as they walked through the portal, "it's showtime!"

* * *

The Autobots' reactions to the captive humans were everything the Decepticons had expected; they were enraged, but at the same time terrified. Terrified that the Decepticons were going to kill the kids. In the end, Optimus predictably ordered the others to stand down, while they gave up their weapons: The Gauntlet, the Immobilizer, the Apex Armor (Starscream sighed of nostalgia) and the Phase Shifter. Optimus himself stuck his Star Saber into the ground and stepped back to the others.

"You first, big boy," Knock Out said, holding Miko's canister forth.

Bulkhead and Optimus shared gazes for a moment before the former went over, holding an Omega Key and gave it to Knock Out, in exchange for the girl. Afterwards, Bumblebee went over with his Omega Key to Soundwave, who stood by silently with Raf's canister in his long servo. The scout handed the key over and whirred threateningly as he retrieved Raf and went back to the others.

There were still two keys left, but only one kid. This was no problem for Megatron though.

"If this human was important enough to entrust with the Matrix of Leadership, he's worth _two_ Omega Keys," he said. Starscream smirked, holding a firm grip on the canister containing Jack.

Arcee and Smokescreen, who were both partners with Jack, went over to Starscream, each holding an Omega Key. The Seeker put down the canister.

"No tricks," he said and pointed his missiles at them. "The keys, if you please." He turned his servos upside down and held them forth. The Autobots approached him and handed over the keys in his servos. He stepped back to Soundwave and Knock Out, giving a key to Megatron.

A portal appeared, and over a dozen Vehicon troopers exited from it, surrounding the Autobots. The 'Bots seemed wary but not surprised. This was just the kind of dirty trick Megatron would have up his sleeve. Starscream had prepared reinforcements after all, just before the three mechs had left for Cybertron.

"Now, bear witness as a new era dawns on Cybertron," Megatron said and inserted the first key into the Omega Lock. Starscream inserted the second, Soundwave the third and Knock Out the last one.

The holographic image of Cybertron appeared above the Lock, followed by an energy stream beginning to flow through the floor and pillars to the circle which withheld the large, light greenish-blue energy 'lake' above them. It was such a strange thing, that it was uncertain what it really was or what to call it. 'Lake' was probably the best way to describe it.

" _Behold!_ " Megatron shouted for all to hear. " _The age of the Decepticons!_ "

* * *

After the Omega Lock had restored a completely destroyed building to good-as-new quality, Megatron had proceeded to order Soundwave to position the space bridge to target Earth, in order to use the Lock to cyberform the planet. Megatron had greedily announced that one world to rule over was not enough for him, as another one was just within his reach and free for conquest.

The Lock activated and sent its beam into the space bridge, thus at Earth. The Decepticons laughed merrily while the humans' planet was being cyberformed for Megatron to rule. Starscream was mostly happy that Cybertron would finally be restored so he could find a place to have and care for his sparklings when they arrived.

Optimus watched the frightened and enraged humans beating against the glass of their canisters and shouting at the 'Cons. He couldn't just let Earth die, not for anything. But there was only one way to stop the Omega Lock from destroying all of Earth's life.

Having made his decision, Optimus changed his servo to sword mode and sliced the nearest Vehicon, then went for the Star Saber. The other Vehicons were too surprised to fire at him, but then they snapped out of it and ran towards him. He grabbed the Star Saber and sent three incoming Vehicons flying with a swipe. Megatron pulled out his Dark Star Saber, let out a battle cry and ran towards Optimus.

The two swords clashed in a bright purple and blue light. In the next nano-cycle, Optimus used the recoil to his advantage and sliced off Megatron's Prime arm, which was holding the Dark Star Saber. Megatron let out a pained groan as he lost his arm.

Optimus continued to run towards the Omega Lock. Soundwave and Knock Out both began firing upon the Autobot, but Starscream hesitated. They didn't seriously think they were going to stop Optimus Prime while he was holding the Star Saber, did they? His hesitation only lasted for two nano-cycles though, followed by him firing a missile at Prime, not wanting to look like he wasn't trying to stop him.

Unfortunately, Prime managed to dodge the missile in time, then he stepped on the Seeker's head and struck the Star Saber into the Omega Lock. The explosion was massive. Autobots and Decepticons were flung in every direction as the mile-long explosion destroyed everything in the area. Starscream was buried underneath the rubble and felt the chest pain beating on the inside, making him completely unable to move.

When he finally got himself dug out of the rubble, he gasped for air and whimpered by the pain in his chest which finally subsided. What he saw afterwards filled him with horror and made his spark skip a beat.

The Omega Lock was gone. The entire area was destroyed, black from the explosion and burning several places. The sight reminded him horrifyingly of the explosion in the waterfall cove: The cliffs shattering, the trees vaporizing…but most of all, the death of Metalhawk, his pet eagle. The sight of the cove destroyed had filled him with such sadness that he had never known of before. This sight, it was much worse, because it was his home planet. The future and hope of Cybertron restored – now gone. Forever.

"I guess we should cancel the welcome-home party-" Knock Out said, but was interrupted by Starscream punching him hard in the face, as this was the absolute worst time for making jokes.

"Attend to our master," Starscream snarled, "he requires medical attention!"

Not wanting to test the Air Commander's fury again, Knock Out ran over to the kneeling Megatron and attended to his wounds.

Starscream looked over his shoulder and saw a portal close. He hadn't even noticed the Autobots getting up and escape. His rage rose by the memory of Optimus Prime stepping on his face and then destroying the Omega Lock, the only thing capable of restoring Cybertron, thus ridding Starscream of any chance to have his sparklings in peace without Megatron ever learning about them!

"PRIME!" he bellowed. "He will _pay_ for dooming Cybertron to remain a lifeless husk!" He growled inwardly, but looked surprised to his left as he heard Megatron… _laugh_?

The warlord rose up in a hysterical laughter, making Knock Out take a few steps back in confusion. How could Megatron laugh right now? Had he not seen what just happened to the Omega Lock and the area around them? Starscream was beginning to rethink Megatron's sanity when the warlord spoke:

"They can _run_ , but they can never again run _home_."

* * *

As Megatron, Starscream, Knock Out and Soundwave returned to the Nemesis – still above Earth's atmosphere – the warlord explained to Starscream and Knock Out that Soundwave had found the location of the Autobot base, after having tracked their human companions' homes. Right now, as he spoke, a large fortress had begun planting itself on the ground next to the Autobots' no longer secret base.

Starscream and Knock Out laughed as the warlord finished his explanation. "Oh, I can't wait to rip those Autobots to pieces for what they have done to Cybertron."

"Ah, I almost forgot," Megatron said and gestured his servo. "Starscream, come with me, please."

The Seeker looked briefly at Knock Out before following Megatron out of the command center, down the hallway. What could Megatron want with him right now? He wasn't being suspicious of him, was he? Had he somehow figured out about his secret? Had he made a mistake which would get him punished somehow? The Seeker was both nervous, but at the same time curious.

"Eh, what is it, master?" he asked cautiously. "Is something the matter?"

Megatron was silent for a moment before he spoke. "We are beginning to run low on troops. Currently there are less than a hundred fliers left, and only a dozen ground troopers and a score of miners. You know as well as I do that the Vehicons are not my…most _powerful_ assets. Therefore, I have kept a... _special_ stash in store for a while now, reserved for a time like this."

Starscream perked his audio receptors in interest. "Special stash?"

They arrived at a door which had always been locked and overlooked – Starscream had never really noticed it before nor had he ever wondered what could be inside. Megatron placed his servo on a pad next to the door. It blinked green and the door opened. The room behind the door was dark and seemed empty at first. When Megatron and Starscream then entered the room, however, the entire room was bathed in bright light.

Before them stood rows and rows of Vehicons Starscream had never seen before in his life; they were fliers, but instead of being dark purple, they had shiny silver and black armor, and instead of the usual purple insignia – which was usually elusive on the already dark Vehicons – these guys had _red_ insignias. Red like…Starscream. These Vehicons looked _very_ similar to Starscream, actually.

"Master?" Starscream said and looked hopeful up at Megatron, who simply looked at the Vehicons reactivating from stasis, their red visors and insignias glowing brightly. The warlord then glanced down at his second-in-command.

"Consider it a _welcome-home gift_ ," Megatron said and gave him a toothy smile.

* * *

"Can you believe it?" Starscream said to Knock Out for the fifth time, as the Nemesis was descending to Earth. "Megatron gave me my own armada! _My very own armada!_ Oh, how I've longed for this day to arrive!"

"Yes, yes, you're _such_ a lucky guy," Knock Out replied irritated, getting pretty tired of hearing the same thing over and over again. "But you should thank _me_ too, you know."

Starscream squinted at him. "You? Why?"

"I helped build them," he replied. "I used the parts of those clones of yours. You know, the ones you sent to _assassinate_ Lord Megatron some time ago? A little mix together with some Vehicon parts and some leftover protoforms, and voilá! Extreme makeover! Vehicon 2.0!"

"Yes, yes, I get it," Starscream said irritated and went for the door. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an Autobot base to destroy!"

As the Nemesis had descended to Earth and hovered beside their new fortress, _Darkmount_ , Megatron stood on the front with Soundwave at his right and Knock Out at his left, looking out at the cliff housing the Autobots. On the deck, Starscream stood in front of his army of Ace Vehicons – or as he liked to call them, _Seekers_ – and listened to Megatron's speech.

"Our opportunity to revive Cybertron has been lost, due to the treachery of Optimus Prime. But from our fortress of _New Kaon_ , we will instead seize control of _this_ world!"

Megatron turned and looked at the army on the deck. He raised his left arm and roared his next words:

" _Decepticons! Transform and RISE UP!_ "

Everyone raised their arms and roared in response, pumped by the warlord's speech, Starscream being the most pumped of all. This was the moment he had been waiting for.

"I thought he'd never ask!" Starscream said excitedly and transformed to jet mode, soaring into the sky for the first time in several months. The Ace Vehicons transformed behind him and followed the Air Commander's lead.

"Come, my armada!" he commanded as they descended to the Autobots standing on the cliff that made out their base. "Attack! _Attack!_ _ATTACK!_ "

Both Vehicons and Starscream started firing upon the Autobots, who ducked and fired back. After the Seekers' assault, the armada of Insecticons attacked the Autobots in close combat. With the Insecticons attacking the Autobots up close and the Seekers firing at them from the sky, the Autobots were both outnumbered and outgunned, even with Prime sending a magical blow from the Star Saber at the Insecticons, instantly killing a swarm of them.

The Autobots quickly realized they couldn't win this battle and retreated into their base. Instead, the human known as Agent Fowler stepped into a helicopter and ascended into the air, taking on the fight against the Decepticons. He began firing upon Starscream, but the shots missed.

"Hah! Pathetic human!" Starscream spat while dodging the shots. Most of the Seekers ignored the human and kept firing at the base platform instead.

Three Vehicons decided to chase after the human anyway. One of them managed to shoot the helicopter's door off and send it smoking. They cornered him against three Insecticons which prepared to execute him, when suddenly a white Autobot ship appeared out of nowhere and shot down the Insecticons. Starscream recognized the ship. _Wheeljack_ , Bulkhead's fellow Wrecker friend. It had been quite a long time since he had last seen him.

The Autobot's ship, the _Jackhammer_ , shot down the three Vehicons as well as several more Insecticons. The Autobot ship chased after two Vehicons who suddenly flew to the sides. At first he assumed they got scared off. Little did Wheeljack know that Starscream was right behind him.

"You're scrap," the Seeker said as he launched two missiles at the Autobot ship.

Wheeljack tried to shake the missiles off, but he wasn't fast enough to outrun or outsmart them, and the Jackhammer got hit and crashed into the ground.

"And _that's_ how you wreck a Wrecker!" Starscream said and laughed viciously. This was a good day to be a Decepticon!

Meanwhile, the Nemesis began flying above the Autobot base, with Megatron standing at the edge of the front spike of the ship. A hatch opened on the belly of the ship, and a large weapon descended from its interior, charging up a red spark, aimed directly at the platform of the Autobot base. Megatron watched it charge up, and in his silent mind he said _Fire!_

BOOM!

The red blast completely annihilated the cliff and its content. Massive explosions caused the mountain to break apart and crumble like sand. The wrecked mountain burned with large, dark, ominous flames, roaring and hissing hungrily while consuming everything they could.

As Starscream observed the destruction of the Autobot base, he felt a strong sense of justice; Optimus Prime had now truly been punished for his destruction of the Omega Lock and the future of Cybertron. He laughed inwardly, ignoring another short cramp in his chest which quickly subsided, as he joined the transforming Megatron in flying down to the wreckage.

They transformed and landed on a bare spot, where the Autobot insignia was carved into the floor. Starscream recognized it from his inside job when stealing the Omega Keys from the Autobots.

"This is the place, alright," Starscream said, glad to have confirmed they had indeed finally found their hideout.

"This _was_ the place," Megatron corrected him and smirked ominously. Starscream chuckled.

"United we stand, departed they fall," he said.

As they began digging for the Autobot corpses, Starscream found a surviving Wheeljack at the wreckage of his ship. Megatron ordered their _guest_ to be taken to Darkmount. Starscream gazed upon the fortress with a new sense of pride and respect for his leader. They had actually defeated the Autobots _and_ destroyed their base!

"This is the dawning of a new age, my liege," Starscream said excitedly. " _The Reign of Megatron!_ "

"You do have a way with words, Starscream," Megatron said, satisfied with Starscream's words of loyalty, and ordered them to continue their work in unearthing the other Autobot corpses.

But Wheeljack was the only Autobot they found. Everyone else was gone.


	21. Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19

* * *

The Decepticons didn't find any more Autobots from the ruins, dead or alive. Instead, the Vehicons had uncovered Airachnid in a stasis pod (Starscream was filled with contempt), and a large golden hammer known as the Forge of Solus Prime, which caused an outburst from Megatron and Starscream - the Seeker had not seen it before, but assumed the Decepticons had already been in possession of it due to Megatron's reaction, so he played along. After the failed search, Megatron and Starscream walked away from the burning ruins in the afternoon sun, discussing the missing Autobots, all while gazing at the tall, ominous yet majestic four-armed Darkmount Citadel in the horizon.

"The Autobots clearly GroundBridged out from their base before it was destroyed," Megatron concluded as they walked among the boulders. "They could be anywhere."

"We must initiate global surveillance, my lord," Starscream contributed. "Send search-and-destroy teams to every sector of this planet."

Megatron turned on his comm. to communicate with the Nemesis. "Soundwave, monitor all Earth-based transmissions for any sign of Autobot communication - with each other or with their human counterparts."

Starscream restrained from smiling. For once Megatron actually listened to him - albeit modifying his proposal a bit - which he found most delightful. Something then caught his attention in the corner of his optic, and he witnessed.

"Master," he remarked, getting Megatron's attention. They both stopped and looked in the same direction.

From the horizon they saw an army of tanks and helicopters rushing towards them. Humans. Now that he was back with the Decepticons - and standing right next to Megatron - the small fleshlings didn't seem so intimidating anymore, even in their aircrafts and land vehicles. Not that he ever found them intimidating, that is, but that one event with MECH really gave him quite a shock. Still, now that he was back in the fold, his vision of humans being small, squishy and helpless had returned to him.

"Foolish humans," he said and shook his head. "I shall deploy the armada." He loved hearing himself saying that. He was so excited about his new, own army that he would even waste them on 'foolish humans' like these. But Megatron had other ideas.

"That won't be necessary, Starscream. Not when we can engage our enemy with newfound might. Engage the western cannon!"

The last part was said over the comm., and as they gazed upon Darkmount, one of the four 'arms' lowered, pointing at the incoming human military army. As the cannon charged up with green plasma energy, they observed as the beam hit the ground without actually causing any damage. The next nano-cycle, however, the beam started to pull the tanks and helicopters into a large ball, surrounded by the plasma energy. There was silence and stillness for a moment, then broken by an explosion causing tanks and helicopters to fly off in every direction, some of which exploded after colliding with the ground or a cliff wall.

Megatron and Starscream both laughed at the sight.

"You see, Starscream? No one can stop us now, especially the Autobots, now that they are scattered and homeless."

"And when we find them, it will be easy to simply crush them into debris and stomp their human pets like bugs!"

"Yes," Megatron said and transformed. "But we still have one more thing to do before we can proceed to phase two."

Starscream transformed and followed Megatron to Darkmount, at the spire, standing taller than the clouds. A throne had been placed in one end while the rest of the platform was empty. They switched to robot mode, and Megatron sat down on his throne while Starscream gazed at the view. He could see all the way to _Jasper_ , the human town in which Soundwave had learned the Autobots' human pets lived in, thus figuring out that their base had been nearby. The town was completely devastated from the explosion earlier, and loads of tanks and helicopter wrecks were scattered in the area. The orange afternoon sky had switched to dark clouds with thunder sounding and glimpses of lightning being seen now and then. Starscream glanced from the view to his master, sitting on the throne, seemingly waiting for something.

"Master?"

"I am calling _Agent Fowler_ of the human military, so do not disturb me the next few minutes, Starscream."

The Seeker was about to ask why he was calling the human he had once kidnapped in an attempt to extract the same information regarding the location of the Autobot base as Soundwave had just recently acquired, but then Megatron started talking to the air, and Starscream realized he was speaking to the human over the comm.

" _Yes, what is it?_ "

"Agent Fowler, so good to hear you."

" _Megatron? How did you get on this channel? And how dare you call us after what you did to Jasper-"_

"What happened to your human town is rather your _own_ fault than mine. Your army assaulted us. I had no choice but to retaliate."

" _That doesn't justify anything_ _. I swear, when the Autobots hear about this, they will-_ "

"You know as well as I do that the Autobot base has been destroyed. No one left after the explosion. The Autobots are gone. It is now only Decepticons and humans."

Starscream watched Megatron and listened to his conversation. He couldn't hear what the human was saying to him, but he could easily imagine what was being said.

"A new power dominates your world. Any further attempts to attack me will be met with even greater force. Your leader should be advised that my fusion cannons posses enough firepower to decimate any densely populated area of my choosing. I would in all likelihood set sights on your nation's capital, for starters."

" _Point taken, now what do you want from us?_ "

"Nothing, Agent Fowler. The Decepticons mean no harm to humanity. We merely desire a place to call _home_."

" _No offense, Megatron, but I'm having a tough time swallowing all this, since you seem so bent on plastering humankind under molten steel!_ "

"Agent Fowler, I admit that war brings out the worst in me, but the conflict with the Autobots is now over, and our quarrel has never been with your kind. Now that the one true enemy of the Decepticons is no more, my only wish is to coexist on this planet with the human race... _peacefully_."

While speaking, Starscream smiled in amusement, impressed by Megatron's diplomatic skills. He had only seen his deceptive side once before, on Cybertron, shortly after Starscream and the other Seekers joined the Decepticons. It had been eons ago though, and Starscream often questioned whether or not Megatron actually had any 'deception' in him to make him a true 'Decepticon'. Right here in this moment, however, his doubts were washed away and replaced with admiration for his leader.

"Together, Agent Fowler, I believe that you and I can make that dream a reality." Without waiting for a reply, Megatron turned off the comm. and rose from his throne. Starscream clapped his servos together in metallic _clings_ as he walked past him.

"You too have a way with words, master," he said and followed Megatron to the edge of the platform to look at the view. "I almost believed you myself."

Megatron chuckled by the Seeker's remark. "Earth is our planet now, Starscream, and we shall finish what we started. Humankind has no idea what lies ahead for them." He glanced at Starscream. "Now, go to the dungeon and have Wheeljack tell you the location of his comrades - by any means necessary."

"My pleasure, master," Starscream replied and bowed. He was about to leave when Megatron continued:

"Also, if you run into Knock Out, tell him to meet me here. I have a little job for him."

"What kind of job?" the Seeker asked in curiosity.

"Unearthing the relics we lost on Cybertron. Or would _you_ like to do that?"

Starscream shook his head. Torturing an Autobot was far more entertaining than digging in rubble, looking for some old objects - valuable objects of course, but it was still much more fun to torture someone. Megatron dismissed him, and the Seeker transformed and flew down to the Nemesis, which was parked by the docking section.

As he arrived inside the warship, heading for the dungeon where they kept Wheeljack, Knock Out conveniently walked out from the corner, accompanied by a Vehicon.

"...and then I told him- Oh, Commander Starscream." Knock Out and the Vehicon stopped as Starscream walked up to them.

"Knock Out, Lord Megatron has requested your presence in his throne room right now. You," he added to the Vehicon, "return to your post."

"Yes, Commander," the Vehicon said and left the two alone. Starscream was about to move on when Knock Out began talking to him, though without looking at him.

"How are you doing, sir?"

"Terrific. Now go attend to our master, he has a _little job_ for you."

Knock Out didn't leave right away; instead, he continued talking for a while. "I still think it would be a good idea if you stayed within Darkmount and the Nemesis for the time being, given your... _situation_."

"I heard you the first time, thank you," Starscream hissed. "And I'll do what I want, unless His Lordship says otherwise."

Knock Out finally faced Starscream and had an unusually serious look on his face. "How much do you care about these protoforms?"

Starscream simply gave him a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, are you really willing to charge outside and face the Autobots in battle, considering how close you are to...conceiving?"

"So what if I am?"

"No disrespect, commander, but if you get wounded out there, badly even, what you're carrying could perish. Even Lord Megatron knows better than that."

"Lord Megatron doesn't even care for his troops that much, let alone unborn protoforms. And in case you haven't noticed, I'm not Lord Megatron."

"Exactly. If you want your offspring to survive and prosper, you need to be better than our mighty leader."

And without another word, Knock Out left Starscream speechless in the hallway to meet Megatron in the throne room. Despite what his pride told him, he had to admit Knock Out was right; it would be foolish to expose the protoforms inside him to such danger when being so close to conceiving them. He then thought about how much punishment he had taken during his time as a rogue and wondered if that alone had already damaged the protoforms so much that it didn't matter if he got crushed now or not. If that was the case, then all the time he had spent suffering would have been for nothing.

* * *

The next few hours were spent interrogating Wheeljack, using both physical and verbal punishment to get him to talk. He had tried punching him, scratching him and slicing his chest with a _Scratchmaker_ , and much, much more, but even as Wheeljack finally lost consciousness from the torture, he had not told him anything. Starscream was not exactly thrilled to tell the bad news to Megatron as he returned to the throne room on Darkmount.

"What do you mean he doesn't know anything?" the warlord snarled impatiently at the Seeker.

"I've tried everything, my lord, but he hasn't given me any useful information. I'm beginning to assume he really doesn't know anything..."

"Save your assumptions for later. You clearly haven't tried hard enough. Wheeljack is a Wrecker, and Wreckers are known for their toughness. He will speak sooner or later, but not likely after a single day. For now, go join Soundwave in the command center on the warship, and send out the troops in case you come up with any transmissions. Continue Wheeljack's interrogation when he awakens."

It hurt a little bit to be talked down on like this, but Starscream was used to it. "As you wish, master," he simply said.

As he returned to the Nemesis, on the way to the command center he decided to stop by the storage room and get an energon cube. It had only been several hours since his last refuel, but the innate hunger his pregnancy caused him would show up every so often as between a few hours lately. While drinking, he wondered how many of the cubes he would consume before the sparklings would arrive. In general there were enough cubes in here to last three months, but given how quickly he grew hungry, the cubes might only last a few days...if Megatron would even let him drink that many, that is.

"Uh, what are you doing, commander?"

Starscream turned surprised around by the sudden voice. A lone Vehicon was standing at the doorframe to the storage, watching the Seeker guzzle the whole cube in him. Primus knows if this was the same Vehicon speaking with Knock Out earlier. They all looked and sounded the same, and even Megatron had a hard time distinguishing the Vehicons.

"None of your business," Starscream hissed. "I thought I told you to get back to your post? You may be called to crush an Autobot or squash a human - or both! Now get back to your post and await your orders!"

"Uh, yessir!" the Vehicon replied and rushed off.

Starscream sighed in relief and put the empty cube down. He didn't know why he had been so defensive towards the Vehicon. Probably because if Megatron got to know the Seeker was consuming his energon cubes in secret, he might perform a re-act of the episode in the energon mine five months ago. On his way to the command center, Starscream decided that if any transmissions _were_ to be caught, he would send that particular Vehicon out to destroy them...or more likely, himself.

* * *

Several days passed without anything happening other than torturing Wheeljack to further attempt to get information from him, but in vain. After the last interrogation, Starscream had concluded that Wheeljack didn't have any useful information, but Megatron kept insisting he hadn't tried hard enough. Starscream was merely waiting for Megatron to grasp the truth and let him get rid of the Wrecker. It would be great to do it the old fashion way, but he realized Wheeljack would probably not be as easy to punch a hole in as Cliffjumper.

Now he was spending most of his time in the command center with Soundwave to watch for Autobot or human transmission, but they had come up with nothing so far. Then, several days later, the monitor suddenly showed a signal in one of the states, which turned out to belong to the human called Jack Darby. The human who Optimus Prime himself had chosen to guard the Matrix of Leadership while he suffered from amnesia. He was also the human who accompanied Arcee, the Autobot assassin who Starscream despised so much. Starscream turned on the comm. link to call Megatron while Soundwave transmitted the information to their leader.

"Master!"

" _Send in the troops,_ " Megatron ordered, having received the transmission. " _And Soundwave, I want a live feed!_ "

As ordered, Soundwave deployed Laserbeak from his chest, and the small _Mini-Con_ flew off to observe the situation.

"Troops, follow the signal and destroy the human," Starscream ordered through the comm. link. "And leave whatever scrap is left of Arcee to me!"

" _Yes, Commander Starscream!_ "

 _Oh, it's good to be back on the team,_ Starscream thought delighted. They watched the monitor which displayed a parking lot and a gas station where a lot of shooting and firing was taking place, the Vehicons flying around like birds, but no signs of Arcee nearby. Laserbeak caught sight of the human boy called Jack and zoomed in. Just then, the door to the command center opened and Megatron entered, approaching the two slender mechs.

"Master," Starscream said and nodded at the monitor. "We have a visual."

From the monitor, they could see Laserbeak follow Jack as he hid himself underneath a truck trailer, but the Vehicons simply shot the trailer off him, which landed a good distance from him with a bang and a dust cloud. One of the troopers then returned to fire at Jack, but just then Arcee jumped in, grabbed the human and sheltered him while firing upon the troopers herself.

"How long does it take to exterminate a long Autobot and her human pet?" Megatron snarled impatiently.

"Well, in my experience-"

"Not a riddle, Starscream."

"Eh, sorry."

They continued watching the monitor, which showed Jack and Arcee hiding behind the gas station. The troopers switched to robot mode and inspected their hiding place. From Laserbeak's point of view, they noticed the boy had spilled a large amount of dark liquid substance from a hose, creating a large puddle underneath the station.

"Fool," Starscream said as the boy dropped the hose and ran in the opposite direction towards a car. "Shoot them now while you have the chance!"

"Wait," Megatron said and looked closer at the dark substance under the station, as the Vehicons prepared to fire. "Something's not right here..."

Before Starscream could ask, he saw what he meant: Arcee peeked from the car Jack sought cover behind and fired her own weapon, not at the Vehicons, but at the substance on the ground. The next nano-cycle, the whole place blew up and they lost contact with Laserbeak. Megatron gave an exclamation of anger.

"Call Laserbeak back immediately," he ordered Soundwave, who seemed to already wait for the bird's return.

When Laserbeak returned, he was burned and battered, but nonetheless whole. Soundwave drew forth his tentacles and initiated repairment on his Mini-Con.

"Well?" Megatron said, sounding partly impatient, partly concerned. "Did any of the surveillance data survive?"

Although Soundwave didn't normally speak, the Decepticons had learned to understand his silent replies, and this one seemed to mean " _No_ ".

"A shame," Starscream sighed. "We might have at least learned the direction in which Arcee and the human fled."

"Clearly we need to improve our methods of hunting Autobots," Megatron said, "and build upon the tactical advantage that we've managed to secure."

" _Lord Megatron,_ " Knock Out's voice sounded from the comm., " _I am ready to return to Darkmount. And I am certain you'll want to see what I've uncovered._ "

Eager for some good news, Megatron ordered: "Soundwave, open a space bridge portal."

Soundwave obeyed and interrupted his work on Laserbeak to open a green portal behind them, from which Knock Out stepped out. Megatron glanced at him with an impatient look on his face.

"I find myself an urge at need of good news. So please, Knock Out, tell me that you've found something useful."

Starscream looked over and under Megatron's shoulder to see what was behind Knock Out. For some reason, he was getting a bad feeling.

"Some _things_ , my liege," Knock Out said and stepped aside. "And some _one_."

Starscream stiffened as he heard heavy footsteps and saw the large, dark purple mech stepping out from the portal, a mech who he thought had perished eons ago during the fall of Cybertron.

"He...lives?" the Seeker whispered in disbelief.

The red-eyed Cyclops with a fusion cannon as his left arm, the creator of the Vehicons and inventor of much Decepticon technology, slowly walked towards the group.

"Lord Megatron," the newcomer said with his deep, cold voice, bowing to the Decepticon leader.

" _Shockwave_! This is quite an unexpected turn," Megatron said with delighted surprise. His delight shifted quickly as he glanced at Starscream behind him. "I thought you'd perished on Cybertron."

Starscream winced at his words and glare. "Yes, yes, as did we all," he replied quickly.

"Reports of my demise were greatly… _premature_ ," Shockwave said. "A pair of Autobots infiltrated my facility on Cybertron, sabotaging my space bridge. I gave chase, but failed to accurately calculate the outcome. I awoke in the rubble, blinded. It soon became clear that I was marooned on our dead planet, with no means of communication. In time, I repaired my wounds and resumed my experiments. The solitude enabled me to make tremendous advances in my research. Until one day, my instruments detected a massive surge of unidentifiable energy. I travelled to investigate its origin, at the edge of the _Sea of Rust_ , where I encountered your salvage team, and the smoldering wreckage of the Omega Lock. But this was not the search party I had anticipated so long ago. Leaving one, unanswered question…"

Shockwave's cold optic focused on Starscream. It gave him the chills – it felt as though the Cyclops was staring directly into his spark.

"Why was I left for scrap?" Shockwave asked with a dangerously calm voice, but Starscream knew he was mad. "Abandoned? _Why?_ "

As Shockwave approached Starscream, the latter lowered his wings in fear, desperately trying to think of an explanation before the scientist blasted him to bits with his fusion cannon.

"The-the-the explosion, it-it collapsed the power core chamber," Starscream stuttered in fear while looking at his own reflection in Shockwave's optic. "The last thing anyone witnessed was you charging into the space bridge portal. No one saw you come back out!"

He held his breath, awaiting Shockwave's response, which seemed to take forever. Though his answer had been performed poorly and it was the first thing he could think of, he realized a second later that it was actually true – of course, there was no telling what Shockwave would think of all this. _He's gonna get mad,_ Starscream thought anxiously. _He's gonna kill me, I know it!_ He remembered when Dreadwing tried to kill him and Megatron had blasted a hole in his chest for it. What would the warlord do if Shockwave tried the same? Shockwave was a highly respected Decepticon, and one of Megatron's favorites, the most powerful and brilliant scientist on Cybertron. Surely Megatron would not make the same mistake with Shockwave as he had done with Dreadwing…

"I find your reply to be…" Shockwave said, snapping Starscream out of his thoughts. He held a long, tense pause before ending: "…logical."

Realizing he was safe, Starscream exhaled in relief, his wings still down. If there was one thing to know about Shockwave, it was that he didn't care about things like conquest, slaughter, Shanix, power, knowledge, weapons or even emotions. The only thing that mattered to him was _logic_ , and anything that had connection to logic, he would follow. So you would only really be safe if he found your words, actions or presence _logical_. He was, however, fiercely loyal to Megatron, just like Soundwave.

Shockwave and Megatron were about to leave, when Starscream remembered the episode with Shockwave's space bridge.

"But you will be pleased to know that I avenged your seeming demise by personally terminating the Autobot Cliffjumper, hahah," he said, attempting to get on Shockwave's good side. Nobody laughed along with him. Only Knock Out said something:

"Careful, Starscream, you may dislocate a landing gear, patting yourself on the back."

"As Megatron's First Lieutenant," Starscream said and ignored Knock Out's comment, "allow me to welcome you back to the winning team."

"And allow _me_ to clarify the new chain of command," Megatron said as they were at the door. "While Starscream will retain authority over _military_ operations, Shockwave will be my First Lieutenant in all _scientific_ endeavors."

This took Starscream by surprise, as he lowered his wings again and said: "So, you are saying…we shall _each_ …report…directly…to you?" It had to be some kind of cosmic joke, Megatron couldn't really be serious about having _two_ seconds-in-command, right?

"Affirmative," the warlord simply answered and went out in the hallway, followed by Shockwave, Knock Out and Soundwave. Starscream didn't follow them right away – he was filled with rage and contempt, hitting his fist against his leg repeatedly in an attempt to keep his cool.

"Completely. Logical. My Liege," he hissed to himself and let his wings reset to pointing upwards again.

He suddenly felt a cramp in his chest and held his arms around it. It was very painful, but quickly subsided. He had had extremely many cramps occasionally these last few days. It couldn't be long now. Knock Out had said the protoforms would come in less than a week – three days ago. He already had enough trouble trying to keep a low profile around Megatron and Soundwave, but now Shockwave was here too, and he had this creepy sense of logic and for solving mysteries. If he were to notice Starscream's odd symptoms, he would immediately know what was going on, and he would most certainly tell Megatron. Then it would be the end of hoping for the sparklings' future.

* * *

Later – after he had snatched an energon cube from the storage room and quickly consumed it to ease the pain (he had found out that the cramps usually appeared when he was hungry) – Starscream joined the others in the surveillance room. He was attending a monitor in one end of the room while the others were talking in the other end. The Seeker glared at them, still filled with contempt.

"Grrr, Shockwave's toting is so transparent," he snarled to himself and returned to the monitor. "Megatron's respect is earned by _deeds_ , not _words_."

He scrolled through a bunch of pictures on the conspiracy website, hoping to find anything related to the Autobot fugitives, but everything was:

"Useless, useless, useless! _Billions_ of cameras in the hands of those miserable humans. One of them is bound to catch an Autobot eventually. Well, well, well, what have we here?"

Among all the useless photos, he had found a blurry, static, dark, but nonetheless legit photo of the Autobot medic Ratchet, running through a bundle of Earth cars. Finally, a sign of the Autobots!

"Lord Megatron," he called and turned, catching the others' attention. "I have found something of great interest!"

They all looked at him in attentive silence. "Yes?" Megatron said impatiently.

"An Autobot," Starscream said and stepped aside to show the picture of Ratchet, in a theatrical way, to show Shockwave up. But if not the baffled expressions and Knock Out's laughing, then the strange yet familiar screechy sound made Starscream look back at the monitor. Ratchet was gone! Worse yet, the monitor was showing the same monkey GIF he had recently watched in the Harbinger, and it was dancing and shrieking in the silly way it always did.

"Wait? What?! It was just here! Surely one of you saw it?" Starscream felt his face burning with embarrassment. Nobody said anything for a moment.

"Starscream…" Megatron said slowly, just as perplexed as everyone else. "You would do well to take a cue from Soundwave on occasion… _and keep things to yourself._ "

Starscream returned to the screen, still hot with embarrassment. "Vow of silence. Such a cop-out." As he turned off the GIF, Shockwave began talking.

"Lord Megatron. Surely our Autobot prisoner is a better source of information than this primitive data-net."

"I will have you know, Shockwave, that I have been grinding Wheeljack down for days," Starscream said. "If he knew anything, he would have spilled it by now."

"Again, some prove to be better at holding their tongues than others," Megatron replied coldly.

"Perhaps you would have better results if instead of a _club_ , you used a _scalpel_ ," Shockwave said. "I recommend a cortical psychic patch."

"Good idea, Shockwave. See to it done."

* * *

Later though, it turned out Wheeljack really didn't know anything, even after the use of the cortical psychic patch, much to Shockwave and Megatron's disappointment and Starscream's epicaricacy. He was delighted that even Shockwave couldn't do anything about the problem, thus leaving the two in stalemate for Megatron's favor.

As Wheeljack was no longer of use to them, Starscream got the job of exterminating the Wrecker. He and four Vehicon fliers went to his cell to get him. Before they took him though, Starscream opened the Autobot's hood and placed a tracking device inside. He hadn't revealed to anyone aboard the ship that he had them yet, because he had been saving them for the right moment, and this was it.

Afterwards he sent the troops off with Wheeljack to the smelting pool in Darkmount. On the way back to the throne room, he felt another very painful cramp tormenting his insides. As it subsided a few cycles later, he suddenly felt hungrier than ever. This was the first time he had felt the hunger immediately after a cramp. This time also felt slightly different than usual; instead of the feeling of being kicked on the inside, it was like his organs were shrinking in size, and then suddenly popping back to their original size, then starting over again. This was much worse than the banging against his chest.

"Ugh, calm down, I'll get energon now…" he hissed to his chest as another similar cramp arrived. He was so filled with pain that he limped rather than walked to the storage room, grabbed a large energon cube and scooped down the entire content within nano-cycles while sitting down. It was better but not enough. The cramp and hunger was still present, albeit slightly decreased. He needed another cube. He grabbed another large one next to him and guzzled the content within ten nano-cycles. That did it. He wiped his mouth clean and felt as the cramps and hunger finally settled.

"That was close," he mumbled in relief and stood up. "I need to find a secluded area soon so I can be rid of these pests! Primus, please give me enough time…"

When he arrived in the throne room, he learned that Wheeljack had escaped. He had used the Vehicons to fly down the tower on, then blasted all four of them and escaped. They could still see the fire from the explosion at the foot of the tower. Megatron did not look pleased when Starscream transformed and landed in front of him and Shockwave.

"This is how you _handle_ things?" Megatron snarled.

"Wheeljack is not the first prisoner to escape Starscream's care," Shockwave said, referencing the time on Cybertron with Arcee and Cliffjumper, but what also came to Starscream's mind was Agent Fowler, along with another time with Wheeljack. _Okay, sure, you made your point,_ Starscream thought irritated.

"Actually, Master, I _allowed_ Wheeljack to escape," Starscream said theatrically. He could have explained his action further right away, but he paused for a bit to see Megatron's reaction.

"You _what?!_ " Megatron yelled and rose up in a swift moment. Just what he had expected. This prompted Starscream to quickly explain:

"But the Autobot's every move, his every word, will be monitored."

Megatron raised an eyebrow, his expression saying 'I'm listening'. Starscream pulled forth one of the tracking devices he had snatched from the Harbinger.

"Thanks to a simple tracking device implanted while the prisoner was still unconscious…" He gave Shockwave a spiteful smile. "…following the _failed_ cortical psychic patch. Now, all we have to do is wait, watch and listen. When the Wrecker reunites with the other Autobots, my armada will strike!"

Megatron's doubtful frown turned into a maliciously satisfied smile. Starscream felt a strange sense of joy simply receiving this look from his master as a reward. He thought Starscream was doing a better job than Shockwave!

 _Take that, Shockwave,_ he thought and glanced at the scientist. It was impossible to tell his mood by his expression, as he only had one optic and no face. He was just as expressionless as Soundwave, though at least he _talked_. Soundwave was a silent mystery. According to rumors, he _was_ able to talk, but apparently decided not to. Like Starscream had pointed out before, Soundwave's _deeds_ spoke larger than his _words_ , so he must have decided to forget about talking and simply act.

They went to the surveillance room and watched the monitor, which was showing Wheeljack's movements. They could hear a motor humming, so he was probably driving on a road. After a while, a _chi-cha-ko-cha-chi_ -sound was heard, indicating he had transformed. Immediately after, they heard a voice which could only belong to the Wrecker Bulkhead.

" _Hahah, Jackie! Where you been, buddy?_ "

" _Cussing up with a few ol'…dance partners,_ " Wheeljack's strained voice sounded, almost as if he was being squeezed. Afterwards, his voice sounded normal again. " _Good to see you, kid. Safe to assume we're the only three Wreckers around?_ "

 _Three Wreckers?_ Starscream thought surprised as they were listening to the conversation. _Has another Autobot arrived? Another new recruit, perhaps?_ There was a third voice, but it was so faint that they couldn't hear what was being said. Perhaps that voice belonged to the new Wrecker.

" _What's our next move, Jackie? Circle back to base?_ " Bulkhead said.

" _There is no base. 'Cons blasted it to dust._ "

"The dimwit played right into my hands," Starscream chuckled and turned on the comm. link. "All Seekers to the flight deck! We have pinpointed the enemy!"

Five Decepticon signals appeared on the monitor, moving towards the signal Wheeljack was giving off thanks to the tracking device. In a few moments, the Wreckers would become wrecked themselves.

"Attack, my armada!" he ordered with excitement. They watched as the signals stopped by the river, the Autobot signal getting closer to them.

" _We're at the coordinates, Commander Starscream,_ " one of the Seekers said through the comm.

"Hold fast," he said. "They're approaching your position."

They watched and waited for the blast to take out the Autobots, but there was no sign of fighting. Instead, a strange sound was coming from the audio on the tracking device. It sounded like flowing water and a beeping sound…

 _Could it be…did he…no, of course he didn't,_ Starscream thought, tossing the suspicion aside. "Get ready for the blast."

A few more nano-cycles passed, then all of a sudden they heard both through the comm. and the tracking device audio one of the Seekers yelling: " ** _GRENADE!_** "

A loud blast sounded through both audio systems, piercing through the Decepticons' audio receptors. The signal from the tracking device disappeared from the screen, along with the five signals from Starscream's Seekers. Even the monitor went blurry, as if the explosion had interfered with the Nemesis itself.

"He…he tricked us…" Starscream said in disappointed surprise and glanced at Megatron right behind him. The warlord's former pleased expression was now more than displeased and disappointed. It was like receiving an energon cube, only to accidentally blast it to explode.

"So not only did you fail to destroy the Autobots…" Megatron said slowly while approaching the Seeker, with every bit of anger carved into his words. "…but you allowed their number to _increase!_ _IS THERE NO ONE WHO CAN BRING ME THEIR HEADS?!_ "

"If I may, Lord Megatron," Shockwave said, without the tiniest bit of concern in his voice. "During my exile on Cybertron, I resumed work on a long-dormant project." He walked over to the monitor, and Starscream quickly got out of his way to avoid any conflict. "One that I believe may provide a solution to our current problem." He pressed a button, and on the big screen appeared a diagram of CNA.

"CyberNucleic Acid?" Knock Out asked in confusion.

"The building-blocks of all Cybertronian life," Shockwave explained. "This hails from a specimen I excavated upon our planet, and has yielded promising results."

While this all sounded nice and everything, Starscream knew creating new life took a long time and resources, whether creating a clone from Vehicon protoforms, hatching normal protoforms from eggs or carrying six normal protoforms in one's chest. Shockwave didn't possibly think they had enough time to create a creature to help them with the Autobots?

"The Autobots continue to evade us," the Seeker said. "What makes you think we can afford to wait for the answer to our prayers to be… _birthed_ in some _petri dish_?"

"You misunderstand. The subject has been fully cultivated. It need only be transported from my laboratory on Cybertron."

Starscream couldn't hold back a surprised, yet silent gasp. Shockwave had been playing Primus on Cybertron all this time? After the rest of them had left for Earth and later, when they had returned to restore the Omega Lock? What could he possibly have been making which would take so long, yet is now fully ready and set for action?

"Then by all means," Megatron said, "activate the space bridge."

Almost two megacycles had passed since Shockwave left for Cybertron. They had all gathered in the throne room and were waiting for his return. Megatron sat on his throne and impatiently tapped the armrest with his claw. Soundwave stood by himself at the foot of the throne, and the Vehicons were scattered around the platform. Starscream stood next to Knock Out a little away from the others. He leaned towards the doctor.

"What do you think Shockwave is bringing back?" he asked quietly.

"Hopefully something more useful than you brought back," Knock Out replied. "To be honest, I don't see how tracking devices and sparklings are going to help us against the Autobots. I mean, the tracking device was a good idea to begin with, but then Wheeljack showed us it just won't work. The sparklings, though…"

"Keep it down," Starscream hissed. "He might hear you!"

"Who, Megs or Soundy?" the doctor said teasingly. "By the way, I've noticed that since Shockwave arrived, you've been even more determined to—hey, what's the matter?"

Starscream held his servo on his chest as another really painful cramp arrived in his chest. It was just as painful as the ones earlier, but because Megatron was present, he couldn't afford to show too much weakness – he might get suspicious.

"I'm fine," he hissed as the pain slowly subsided. "But these cramps have been getting more and more frequent. And they—"

They silenced as a space bridge portal opened in front of them, with Shockwave stepping out. Starscream took a few steps forward, curious as to what the Cyclops had brought home, but tried not to look too curious.

"I present to you, my liege," Shockwave said and held his servo at the portal, "the ultimate Autobot hunter."

From the portal stepped out a huge beast with claws, spikes and sharp teeth everywhere, a pair of red wings, a long, spiky tail, horns priding its head and glistering yellow optics, walking on four robust legs. Starscream took many steps back and held his arms in front of his face and chest. He had seen one of those creatures only in pictures and on engravings. An unholy beast that had ruled Cybertron before Autobots and Decepticons, heck, Cybertronians in general even existed! And this specimen in particular was one of the most dangerous of its kind.

"A… _Predacon_ …"


	22. Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20

* * *

"This is terrible, preposterous," Starscream said as he and Knock Out walked through the corridors of the Nemesis later. "That Predacon is going to ruin my status as Lord Megatron's second-in-command!"

"Come on, Starscream, Shockwave is already the same rank as you, and Lord Megatron still keeps you around," Knock Out pointed out. "You're overreacting."

"I'm sorry, _overreacting?_ Easy for you to say, Knock Out! Nobody here wants _your_ post. _I_ , on the other hand, hold the most coveted position within the Decepticon ranks. And no matter what he may claim, I _know_ that Shockwave is plotting to usurp me. Did you see the smug look in his eye when he unveiled that vile beast to Lord Megatron?"

"Well, he _does_ have that creepy atmosphere around him…but I still don't think you have anything to—"

"Quiet," Starscream hushed and stopped. He could have sworn he just heard the faintest of an exclamation. It was brief, though, and now there was only silence around them.

"What is it now?"

"Nothing," Starscream replied after a moment. "Probably just a Vehicon…"

Without warning, an extreme cramp overwhelmed him in the chest. He held both arms around it and fell to his knees while groaning in pain.

"Are you okay?" Knock Out asked and helped him back on his peds.

"Do I look like I'm okay?!" the Seeker spat. "These cramps – they're getting worse every day, but today…it's been worse than ever!"

"Let's get you to sickbay so I can see what's wrong."

As they arrived in the sickbay, Starscream laid down on one of the tables while Knock Out ran the scanner on him. The cramps didn't go away until several cycles later, and they only decreased a little bit, leaving him with an uncomfortable twist in his chest area. He really wanted a few energon cubes now.

"Well?" he said impatiently to the doctor. He didn't answer him right away; he mumbled something before replying to him.

"How would you describe these cramps, exactly?" he asked with a tablet in his servos. "What do they feel like, and how much do they hurt?"

"Like the Pit," the Seeker groaned, feeling the twist twisting harder. "They usually feel like something's kicking my chest from the inside, but earlier today it was different. Now it feels like everything inside me shrinks and then pops back, then it starts all over again."

"Aha. Have there been more of these unusual cramps?"

"After the first time, it's only been those. What's going on?"

Knock Out looked at his tablet and the screens again in silence for a moment. "I think you're having contractions."

Starscream looked like a big, gray question mark. "Contractions? What are those?"

Knock Out shrugged. "Well, that's what the humans refer to them as, anyway. It is apparently what the females get when their protoforms are ready to get birthed."

Starscream's spark skipped a beat. "You mean…they're coming?"

"Well, so-so. See, if what I've researched is correct, then it turns out Transformers have longer contractions than fleshlings do. It could take hours or even days before the actual birthing process begins."

"Ugh, so I'm supposed to spend these next few days suffering even more than I did before? Can't we just pop them out or something?"

"That would cause damage to both you and the protoforms. They have to get out on their own, when they're ready. Right now they're just testing if they're ready."

"Well, quit it!" Starscream said and slammed a fist against his chest-plate, making a _clang_ sound. It only caused the twist to twist even harder.

"Careful, now," Knock Out warned. "The crucial matter right now is how much pressure you put yourself under. The more stressed out you get, the faster they will come. And if you should get a sudden strong blow to the chest, they might come out right away."

 _So if I want these things to leave my body as soon as possible, I have to go fight the Autobots or such,_ Starscream thought. _Not really the shortcut I'd like, but the thought of going through another week of this kind of torment…_

"So," Knock Out continued, snapping Starscream out of his thoughts, "if you still wish to conceive without the knowledge of Lord Megatron, I suggest you go find a place pretty soon. And remember…"

"…no leaving the warship or citadel, I know," Starscream ended for him in an annoyed tone. "Now please, go fetch a few energon cubes for me, I'm starving!"

"Fine, I'll be right back."

As Knock Out left the room and Starscream in it, the Seeker felt another so-called contraction twisting his insides. He looked around in the room to try and put his mind on something else. His gaze fell on a durabyllium drill on Knock Out's operation table. He remembered the time in the Harbinger when he was about to perform self-surgery. If only he had known back then what he was carrying, and possibly, about to destroy…

His thoughts suddenly turned to the Heralds of Unicron. They had not occupied his mind for weeks now; he had almost completely forgotten about them. He began to wonder if they knew anything about the protoforms inside him. He then remembered what one of them had said. _He's too valuable to be destroyed._ Were the protoforms what he had meant? But why would Heralds of Unicron care about some unborn protoforms, not to mention being _Starscream's_ offspring? The answer to one question only led to more questions…

The door opened and Starscream stirred uneasily, but relaxed once he saw it was only Knock Out with two energon cubes in his arms.

"Is this enough?" he asked behind the cubes.

"Yes, this will do," the Seeker said and grabbed a cube, emptying it in three nano-cycles, tossed the empty cube away and then grabbed the other one, emptying it in five nano-cycles. "Ahhh, that did it…"

"I will never get used to seeing that," Knock Out said and picked up the empty cube on the floor. "You know, I met a pair of Vehicons on my way back, and I excused the cubes as replenishing my medical supplies. I also noticed how short we're getting on cubes in the storage lately. You've really drained our supply more than we can restock. You need to be careful Lord Megatron doesn't get to know you're taking his energon again without his permission…"

"I know, I know," Starscream hissed. "I can't help it! These _Scraplets_ force me to drink more than I'd normally do, and when I don't, they give me cramps or contractions or whatever the Pit they're doing, until I drink what we need!"

"'We', you say," Knock Out remarked, smiling.

"Yes, 'we'! Is that so wrong?"

"No, no, it's just funny, seeing you this way. Almost as funny as seeing you try to suck up to Lord Megatron ever since Shockwave arrived."

"Well, what else can I do?" Starscream said concerned and got off the table, heading towards the door. "I need to prove my worth to him, or he might try to… Well, I need to get back to work now."

He had restrained himself from mentioning the episode in the energon mine. He knew that Airachnid knew about it, but not if anyone else knew. Soundwave, maybe. But there was no reason to bring that event back up again. As the door closed behind him, he felt a strange dizziness in the head and stopped for a moment. Next nano-cycle, in just a brief glimpse, he saw Creop Trivem's face floating in front of him. He took a step back, but the image was gone as quickly as it had appeared. But it had already imprinted itself into his processor, and now he couldn't forget about it.

The ominous smile…the sickly green eyes…the cold shiver which ran down his back and up again, all the way to the tips of his wings…

He shook his head and went down the hallway. _There is no need to fear these people anymore, Starscream,_ a little voice in his head said. _You are safe as long as you stay on Nemesis or Darkmount. Everything is going to be alright._

* * *

Later that day, the Predacon had returned from its hunt. There was no energon on it, and it had no Autobots or even pieces of Autobots with it back. It had failed. Starscream almost felt like it was AllSpark-Day, the many disappointments that Shockwave had brought with him since he arrived. A highly advanced, feared predator, having scanned a sample of energon with Wheeljack's CNA, and _still_ it failed. Shockwave was stroking the beast along its long neck, probably as an attempt to cheer it up. Starscream had other plans regarding that.

"What a grave disappointment this must be for you, master," he said in a silky tone, talking to Megatron but directing it at the beast. "And to make matters worse, because it cannot speak, we have no way of knowing why the Predacon failed so miserably. Poor mute, mindless creature."

By that comment, the Predacon turned its head and glared at Starscream, emitting a metallic growl from its throat. Megatron did not make any comment, but instead turned his attention to Shockwave.

"Take the Predacon to the Nemesis for repairs and refueling," Megatron ordered. "It needs to be ready in case we need it again."

This took Starscream by surprise. "But master, it _failed!_ Aren't you going to punish it or something?"

"This was only a test hunt, Starscream," Shockwave informed. "It needed to learn its opponents first, their strengths and weaknesses alike. Next time, it will certainly take down an Autobot or a human."

"Oh please, it can't learn anything," Starscream protested. "It's a beast! It can't think, it can't feel, and it certainly can't _learn!_ "

This made the Predacon growl even louder. "That's enough," Megatron said. "Bring it to the warship, now."

"As you command," Shockwave said calmly, but Starscream noticed just the faintest tone of irritation. Whether it was irritation towards Starscream or Megatron's orders was unclear.

* * *

Two days later, and Starscream was getting more and more painful contractions, consuming more and more energon cubes each day. The previous day he had consumed at least twelve cubes, maybe even more. He hardly got any sleep because the contractions would just come randomly within a matter of hours, no matter if it was day, night, morning or evening. It was also not easy sleeping or simply wandering the hallways, knowing that somewhere on the ship, the Predacon was being held, probably not even restrained like it should be. So when he stood in the surveillance room that morning, back to waiting for Autobot and human transmissions, he was drowsy and unfocused. He first noticed he had dozed off when Soundwave played a recording of Megatron saying: " _ **Quit dawdling around!**_ " from which he flinched and looked around. As his optics set on Soundwave, he laughed nervously and pretended nothing had happened.

Just then, a signal appeared on the monitor in front of them. It was Jack Darby, once again. Starscream chuckled gleefully.

"I knew the humans couldn't resist using their telecommunications. That is all they seem to do." He turned around and looked at a squadron of Vehicon fliers. "Seek and destroy!"

The Vehicons left to attend to the transmission.

"I can't wait to see the look on Shockwave's—"

Starscream was interrupted by yet another transmission signal, this time coming from the human girl named Miko Nakadai. Starscream's surprise turned into merry laughter.

"Humans," he snickered and turned to another squadron of Vehicons. "Stand by to GroundBridge!"

Soundwave laid a servo on the Seeker's shoulder, catching his attention. He then pointed at the screen showing the two signals of the human children in two different locations very far away from each other. He was pointing out how suspicious it was for two signals to appear right after each other on such short notice, but Starscream was too tired to listen to reason.

"Soundwave, why can't you accept a little good fortune?" he asked tired. "The Autobots couldn't possibly stay hidden forever."

Not long after the Vehicons left the room, a comm. link opened up and a Decepticon signal showed up on the monitor.

" _Decepticon command, do you read? We are under Autobot attack._ "

There was scratchy noise and a high-toned voice which sounded much different from the usual Vehicons, but Starscream wasn't clear enough in the head at the moment to suspect otherwise.

"It's one of our energon mines. Insecticons, prepare for battle!" The last part was said over the comm., and he could already hear the faint cries of the Insecticons leaving the ship to save the energon mine.

Several cycles later though, a different, deeper, more Vehicon-like voice said through the comm. link: " _There must be some mistake, Commander Starscream. The mine is not under attack._ "

Starscream was confused. Deeply confused. "Wh-what? How can that be—"

"Starscream!" a deep, angry voice sounded behind them, startling the Seeker. It was Megatron, standing with Shockwave by the monitor in the other end of the room. "Explain why my forces are scattering across this globe."

Starscream cleared his throat and approached the Decepticon leader. "Renegade Autobot mischief, Lord Megatron. I am in the process of deducing how they are infiltrating our communication systems without a base of—"

A beeping sound came from Soundwave and a diagram of a location appeared on the silent mech's visor. Starscream immediately recognized the location and gasped.

"The Harbinger!"

He regretted his outburst as soon as he had said it. Megatron turned slowly around and looked angrier than he had ever been at the Seeker.

"You left abandoned Decepticon technology fully operational and _unsecured?!_ " he yelled at the smaller mech.

Despite his fear of failing his master, Starscream knew this moment was inevitable. Back when he left the Harbinger, he had had no choice but to leave it fully operational, as his only means of getting back to the Nemesis was through the GroundBridge, and the GroundBridge wouldn't have worked if the power was down. Of course, he could have taken the remote with him so they couldn't use it and so he could go back to the Harbinger if his plan to return to the Decepticons backfired, but back then he had had very high doubts of his survival, so he didn't think he would ever get to use it again. Despite that, he had brought with him five tracking devices along with the four Omega Keys, and he didn't have enough room to carry more. Besides, there wasn't that much useful technology left on the ship, the most useful being the GroundBridge, but that was pretty much it. Of course, Megatron didn't understand any of this, so Starscream had to think of a shorter, more simple explanation, or at least some sort of answer.

He started with some inexplicable sounds, trying to figure out what to say here. "…Allow me to…correct my oversight immediately…" he said with a squeaky voice and smiled nervously while taking a few steps back. He turned on his comm. and his voice returned to normal. "Seeker armada to the flight deck! Your target is the Decepticon ship, the Harbinger! You are to obliterate it at once!"

He looked at the monitor showing the army of silver Vehicons standing troop on the flight deck, ready for Starscream's next orders.

"My armada is in position. Open a GroundBridge to the Harbinger," he said to Soundwave with strong accent.

Just then, they heard bangs and felt tremors in the ship. The monitor showed the citadel had been damaged in the west bottom section.

"Since it would seem that Darkmount is presently under attack," Megatron said, "kindly redirect all efforts toward ensuring that our invaders are eradicated!"

"At once, my liege!" Starscream said and talked through the comm. to his armada. "Change of orders! All Seekers target the Autobot attackers at the foot of Darkmount!"

They watched on the monitor as the armada took off and went towards the ground where they engaged the Wreckers in combat. Despite outnumbering them, though, the Autobots had some kind of powerful weapons which took out several Vehicons with a single blow or swing, without even getting hurt themselves. This was troubling, to say the least, but nothing to worry about. Weapons aren't everything, after all. It's how good you are at using them, and how many. And Starscream was good at using his armada. At least, he thought so himself.

Another large bang and tremor reached the ship, and the Decepticons struggled keeping themselves on their peds.

"I assure you, master, I have everything under control and—"

Megatron turned around – Starscream thought he was about to yell something at him, but he only let out an angry growl at him. Apparently he was so mad he didn't even know what to yell at Starscream with anymore. Not that his wordless growl was any less scary, that is.

"Lord Megatron," Shockwave interrupted. "I accept that military considerations are outside of my domain, but perhaps it is once again time to release the Predacon."

Megatron straightened his back and nodded. "Do it." He looked back at Starscream. "And let no one get in its way."

Starscream took the hint and called his Seekers off immediately, while Shockwave ordered his own Vehicons to let the Predacon outside. Several cycles later, they heard the roar of the Predacon, followed by its image on the monitor. They saw it soaring through the sky, towards the Autobots on the ground, but then it got shot by a ship Starscream had not seen before, at least not on Earth.

"That looks new," he remarked. "Where did they get hold of a vessel like that in such short time?"

"They must have gained reinforcements," Shockwave suggested. "Perhaps others followed the trace of the Omega Lock like I did, and ended up on Earth as a result."

"Yes, I was about to say the same thing," Starscream lied. "Let's see if your abomination can take care of this so-called _reinforcements_."

They watched on the monitor as the Predacon continued to follow the strange ship and fire at it, but missed. Suddenly, a green portal opened in front of the ship which then flew upwards, avoiding it. The Predacon was not so lucky, having too much speed and not seeing the portal in time. It went right through and disappeared into it, ending up Primus-knows-where. If it was up to Starscream, he would have sent the creature to Antarctica like he did Nightbird.

The portal closed and no Predacon came out again. "Oh well," Starscream sighed calmly with a spiteful smile at Shockwave. Again, he could not read his expression, but the way the Cyclops turned around and left the room without a word suggested he was mad, furious even. "Yes, that's right, go off and sulk, why don't you?" the Seeker said, this time with unhidden spite and delight in his voice.

" _We're under attack in sector 29!_ " a voice said through the comm. " _We need reinforcements immediately!_ "

"That's Darkmount's power core chamber!" Starscream exclaimed. "Lord Megatron, did you get that?"

" _Affirmative,_ " Megatron said over the comm." _I'm on my way there. Shockwave has already left to take care of the attackers on the ground. You better make yourself useful too, Starscream!_ "

"Wait, whu?" he said confused. "Well, Shockwave certainly has an interesting way of 'sulking'…"

He left the surveillance room to Soundwave and went outside, entered jet mode and gained an overview of the situation. He had his sights on the Autobots on the ground, and indeed, Shockwave was taking more than care of them. He could also hear shots coming from inside the tower, and in the center of the fusion cannons, at the power core, he could see a pair of large mechs fighting. One was Megatron, for sure, but who was the other one…?

"Whoever that is, he's not that powerful," he mumbled to himself as he saw the mech he recognized as Megatron pummel the other one down. "He's certainly no Optimus Prime, that's for sure." He scouted the ground and saw the Wreckers along with Arcee and Bumblebee had been restrained by the Vehicons and Shockwave. He smiled maliciously and decided to join his master.

He flew to the spire and landed on the floor in the throne room, just as Megatron entered it with his defeated opponent. Starscream was surprised by how much he looked like Prime, the only differences being his chest, shoulders and head, plus having more blue than red on him. Now Starscream recognized the Autobot as _Ultra Magnus_ , Prime's own second-in-command. He came to think of the vessel they saw before and concluded that the ship must belong to him.

Megatron dragged the rather weakened 'blue Optimus' across the floor, and threw him near the edge of the platform. Starscream joyfully observed the scene.

"All invaders have been taken captive, master," he informed Megatron. "There was no sign of Optimus Prime."

He took Megatron's silence as disappointment of his missing arch-nemesis. The warlord then turned his attention to the Autobot commander below him.

"So tell me, _commander_ , where might your leader be?"

Ultra Magnus did not respond – whether it was because he didn't know or didn't want to speak was beyond Starscream's knowledge, but Megatron was growing increasingly impatient. Lately he had seemed bored, even more prone to provocation than usual. Perhaps he missed fighting against Prime. That must certainly be the case.

"I will not ask again," Megatron snarled impatiently at Magnus.

The Autobot finally spoke, though it was more of a whisper. "…If I knew…I wouldn't tell you…"

"Very well," Megatron said and drew forth his arm-blade. "Execute our prisoners, and fire each cannon at the nearest metropolis within its sights," he said to Starscream. "It is time to show the known universe that this planet belongs to Megatron."

While listening to Megatron, Starscream looked at the sky, in direction of the sun. He swore he could see just a tiny, faint black dot materialize in the middle of the big bright ball. He walked forward a little to get a better look at it.

"Master, something's coming," he informed.

Megatron focused on the same object Starscream could see in the distance. The dot was getting bigger and clearer to see now, no longer just a faint image. The object was flying towards them with high speed.

"The Predacon?" Megatron suggested.

"Hmm, not beasty enough," Starscream said and walked backwards to Megatron's side with a nervous look. He came to think of Creop Trivem in his hover-plane mode. That crazy mech wasn't really on his way here, was he? _I'm screwed, I'm so screwed if that's Creop… Megatron will learn everything, and then I really am screwed!_

Megatron walked forward, past Magnus (who was also looking), until he was standing at the edge of the platform. As the dot became bigger and closer, they could now make out the colors. It was a red and blue object.

"I know that color-scheme…" he said, but doubted it was who he thought it was.

Megatron took another step forward and squinted his optics to see better. He flinched as he too recognized the figure flying towards them with high speed. It could be no other than Optimus Prime himself, with the sun in his back, flying in _robot mode_ towards the citadel. Talk about a literal 'speaking of the sun'…

"Wait, he can't fly, can he?" the Seeker asked, but before anyone could answer him, Optimus Prime had approached them. Starscream watched as the rather taller and more robust Prime punched Megatron several times in the face and chest, then landing a heavy punch which flung the warlord into his throne, shattering it and burying him underneath the rubble. It was like watching a pair of giants fighting, at least in the eyes of the small Seeker.

As Megatron did not get up, the Vehicons present in the throne room began firing at Prime, even though they probably knew they didn't stand a chance against him. And indeed, Prime pulled out a large machine gun which annihilated the three Vehicons with ease. Starscream was now alone, with no chance against this upgraded Optimus Prime.

Frightened, he stepped backwards, horrified at the scene of Megatron and the Vehicons getting crushed so easily by Optimus. He heard something behind him and looked. The next nano-cycle, he was punched in the face by Ultra Magnus, sent flying across the room and landed on the stairs. He felt another contraction, this one far worse than any other these last few days.

"No…please…don't…" he whispered frightful, more to himself than to the Autobots. Luckily for him they decided to ignore him and greeted each other briefly. He didn't hear what they said, because he lost consciousness the very next nano-cycle.

When he came to, he saw Ultra Magnus jump off the platform and take off on his vessel, the same one that the Predacon had chased earlier. He groaned a bit, partly from the punch, partly from the contraction as it settled. He remembered what Knock Out had said about getting stressed or taking hard blows. _Too close. I'm beginning to think I would have been better off staying at the Harbinger._

He started when he heard a roar behind him; it was Megatron, and he was furious, but alive. He transformed and flew down to the fusion cannons. Afterwards, Starscream could hear a tremendous, rattling and furious: " _ **OOOOPTIMUUUUSS!**_ " shaking even the very sky surrounding them.

Starscream ran to the deck behind the now-shattered throne and watched Megatron and Optimus fighting in mid-air, shooting against each other, blue and purple lasers flying everywhere down there.

" _Commander, a cluster of enemy signals incoming,_ " a Vehicon said through the comm. link.

Starscream growled frustrated, knowing what that meant. "Humans. Activate the fusion cannons!"

He watched as the fusion cannons began charging up the green plasma balls and preparing to fire. Suddenly, another roar rung through the sky: " _ **Megatron…BEGONE!**_ "

Before Starscream could catch a glimpse of either Megatron or Optimus, a heavy tremor shook the entire tower, knocking the Seeker off his peds. Explosions sounded and the fusion cannons shut down. Something was wrong.

Starscream transformed and flew into the nearest entrance to the interior of the tower that he could reach, then resumed to robot mode and ran through the hallways, while yet another blast hit the tower, making another powerful tremor. Something must have happened to Megatron, and whatever had happened, it couldn't be good…

As he arrived in the power core chamber while the tower was crumbling around them, he saw Megatron lying on the ground, heavily wounded and drained of energy, and the power core shut down completely. He stopped and gasped at the sight, then became thoughtful. Optimus must have thrown Megatron into the power core, thus shutting down the fusion cannons and putting Megatron out of commission. In the old days, this would be the perfect opportunity for Starscream to put his leader out of commission for _good_ , but he had changed now. Besides, they weren't alone.

"Transport Lord Megatron to the warship," he ordered the two Vehicons in the room. They each grabbed an arm and helped Megatron back on his peds. Though not resisting, Megatron was clearly not intent on leaving.

"What are you doing?" Megatron hissed weakily. "No! We'll _not retreat!_ "

"This battle is lost, my liege," Starscream said, desperately trying to get Megatron to understand. "We _must_ retreat if we are to have any hope of winning the war!"

Megatron didn't say anything else the rest of the way to the ship. He couldn't admit to Starscream that he was right; he had too much pride to admit the second-in-command he had beaten, lectured, banished and punished for eons made more sense than him right now. But nonetheless, he followed the Vehicons and Starscream to the docking area, where they entered the Nemesis. Shockwave was already onboard, having been GroundBridged back by Soundwave, and Knock Out was in the command center with Soundwave, waiting for the others' return. As the weakened Megatron and his companions entered the command center, Knock Out looked shocked at their leader's condition.

"Lord Megatron, what—" he began, but was interrupted by Megatron, who pushed his two Vehicon companions aside and managed to stand by himself.

"Set course for space," he ordered the Vehicons, who immediately began working, along with the other Vehicons. "We have lost this battle, but we have not yet lost the war."

As the warship left the docking area and took off, the Decepticons all stood in the command center and looked through the large windows, staring at the crumbling Darkmount Citadel.

"All that power...all that success…now gone," Starscream remarked.

"It was a magnificent citadel," Shockwave said. "And it served the Decepticon cause well."

"I guess we're back to flying around aimlessly now, huh?" Knock Out sighed.

"Lord Megatron," one of the Vehicons said, having just entered the command center, interrupting their silent goodbyes to Darkmount. "We're almost out of energon cubes.

Starscream's spark skipped a beat. He did the best he could to keep a straight face as he saw Megatron's reaction to the news. He showed an expression, mixed with shock and anger, then proceeded to look around at everyone, from Knock Out to Shockwave to Soundwave to the Vehicons and to Starscream. The Seeker held back a sigh of relief as the warlord returned his gaze to the messenger.

"We must have spent too much during the battle. We'll have to conserve our energy for now, until we get fresh supplies from the mines." He then looked around on all the Decepticons and announced: "Decepticons. Though Darkmount has fallen, we are not finished yet. We will keep a low profile for now until we are back to full strength. Then, when the Autobots least expect it, we'll strike. At _full force_."

Starscream considered his current options. Now that they had lost Darkmount, they once again only had the Nemesis left to live in, and there wasn't nearly enough room onboard for Starscream to seclude himself when the protoforms would arrive. With a beating spark, he realized the only way to get these protoforms without Megatron's knowledge…would be to leave the safety of the Nemesis and have them in a vulnerable place like the Harbinger.

Unless, of course, the Autobots found him first. Or worse yet, the Heralds of Unicron, Nightbird…or Creop Trivem.


	23. Chapter 21

CHAPTER 21

* * *

Somewhere in Antarctica, a large Predacon dragon was standing, frozen solid. It had been in that state for days, with a constant blizzard keeping it in the same temperature at all times, preventing it from busting or melting itself free from the ice. All its senses but sight had been disabled due to the cold, and it could only keep a minimal amount of consciousness in its frozen state. Everything in this frigid wasteland gave it the uneasy feeling of loneliness and doubted it would ever get free…

…that is, until one day, it discovered it was not alone after all. It could not hear, and its vision had been limited to the sky due to its position of looking up, but it could feel a presence approaching it. Outside its icy prison, a large gray and purple motorcycle came driving towards the frozen Predacon at speed unusual to Earth motorcycles. The reason for this: It was not a motorcycle at all. It was a Unicronian traitor known as Nightbird.

As Nightbird approached the frozen giant, she transformed into her sleek bot mode and walked calmly up to it. Her armor had seen better days, but she was surprisingly well-functioning for someone who had been trapped in this same wasteland as the Predacon for almost a month now.

"Well, well," she said with a silky, but deep voice. "What do we have here?"

Unable to do anything to make her go away, the Predacon merely stood and felt, in a sort of spiritual way, that she laid a servo on its frozen chest. The blizzard stormed around them both.

"Poor thing," she said, sounding genuinely concerned. "Who could have done this to you?"

She sat down underneath the large Predacon, with no fear or concern that it might become mobile again, and turned her servos into a pair of blowtorches.

"I've been able to keep myself warm with these for this long," she said for the sake of conversation, "but my energy reserves are beginning to grow low, and there is no energon in this place. If we are to survive and get out of this place, we'll need to work together. I'll use my blow-torches to get you out of that ice, and you'll take me with you to wherever you're going to go afterwards. Deal?"

* * *

That morning, Starscream woke from his recharge after a long night of no sleep. The contractions just kept getting worse every time, and the latest one came to him when he had finally begun to have some decent sleep that night. It was so painful that he wished he would just die already, but as it subsided, he quickly retracted that notion.

He left his quarters to get some energon cubes when Knock Out very conveniently came by with one.

"Thought you'd want this," Knock Out said and handed over the cube. Starscream didn't know what to say. He hadn't even told Knock Out to get one for him yet, which made the whole scene seem so… _nice_.

"Uh…thank you," he replied shyly and drank the cube right away. "Any news?"

"Well, the tests indicate the protoforms should arrive within two or three days from now," he replied. "Oh, and Bombshock has arrived with something interesting."

"The Insecticon? Where is he now?"

"In Shockwave's lab, with Lord Megatron and the Cyclops himself. I think you should go see what the bug has uncovered."

"Well, I'll do just that."

And so, he left Knock Out in the hallway and arrived in Shockwave's lab. Megatron and Shockwave were both present, but Bombshock had already left the room to join with his brethren. He saw the two large mechs bended over something lying on the table. It looked like a horn, but had a more rock-like surface. He cleared his throat, announcing his arrival.

"Lord Megatron, I heard from Knock Out that Bombshock found something of interest," he said. "So what may that 'interesting object' be, if I may ask?"

"It is a fossilized Predacon bone," Shockwave answered him instead. "The Insecticon found it in a nearby mine."

"A Predacon fossil?" Starscream replied in surprise. "On _Earth_? I mean, isn't it just a little preposterous?"

"They are not the remains of Predacons, Starscream," Megatron replied calmly. "But rather the remains of Predacon _clones_. For you see, our recent Autobot hunter wasn't the first bestial super-soldier Shockwave ever attempted to breed from prehistoric matter. During the war for Cybertron, I sanctioned the dispatch of a small army of these Predaclones to Earth, to unleash the beasts on unwitting Autobot forces stationed here. Once they accomplished their mission, the surviving Predacons held sentinel on this very world for ages to come, guarding the energon reserves they had managed to secure, while awaiting my arrival. Of course, our reunion here was much delayed, and it would seem we lost the beasts to the ravages of time."

"But not their ento-matter," Shockwave said. "From which I am logically able to extract their very CNA."

"Pfft. Another scavenger hunt?" Starscream said. "How logical would it really be to locate all the dusty remains of your former pets?"

"You are not suggesting that I would send my creations to a distant planet without first having them microchipped?" Shockwave asked.

Once again, Starscream was taken by surprise, not expecting that the Cyclops would already have taken care of the major issues. "Well, I—Well, I was. But…seriously? You did?"

"I am always serious. Soundwave is currently scanning for the microchips' energy signatures. Once we acquire the required genetic material, I can create a new batch to serve the Decepticon cause."

"Right, more Predacons," Starscream mumbled gloomily. "I'm _so_ looking forward to it."

"Get ready to leave," Megatron said all of a sudden, making both his first lieutenants look at him. "Soundwave has located two more signatures, one in Texas, the other in Scotland. Shockwave, you and Soundwave will retrieve the bone in Texas. Starscream…"

Starscream held his breath, not knowing what to respond with. Knowing the Autobots, they would most certainly pick up the same signals as they did, given their past struggles with energon, relics, Omega Keys and pretty much everything else. Getting sent to one of those bone-locations would surely mean getting into a fight with the Autobots as well. And if Knock Out's knowledge regarding the sparklings was true, then he couldn't risk going outside the safe walls of the Nemesis, much less risk their very lives in a battle against the Autobots.

Thankfully, Megatron simply continued: "…assemble an excavation team to retrieve the bone in Scotland. The signal seems to be weaker there, so it must be somewhere underground."

"Uh, yes, master! As you command!" Starscream said, almost a little too relieved. Before he could let Megatron ask any questions though, he left the lab immediately and went to assemble an excavation team, consisting of various Land Vehicons, a couple of Air Vehicons and a single Miner, along with a drill to dig out the bone. As the team was assembled and ready on the flight deck, Soundwave opened a portal for them to enter and arrive in Scotland. Afterwards, Shockwave and Soundwave himself went through another portal – along with their own excavation team of Vehicons – heading for Texas. Starscream returned inside, relieved that Megatron had decided to send Vehicons instead of him. Lucky for him…almost _too_ lucky…

A dreaded thought passed through his mind as he walked through the hallways towards his quarters, prompting him to instead set course for the medical bay. As he passed through the door, he saw Knock Out working on something, but he paused and turned around to greet Starscream.

"Hey, so did you learn—"

Starscream punched Knock Out in the stomach, making the doctor crouch together and fall onto his knees. He gasped and looked up at the Seeker with disbelieving optics.

"Wh-what…what are you doing?!" he gasped confused.

"You miserable Mercedes," Starscream hissed.

"For your…information…it is an _Aston…Martin One_ -"

"Why did you tell Megatron about the sparklings?!" Starscream interrupted furiously.

"What…are you talking about?" Knock Out said as the sensation in his stomach began slowly returning, letting him stand more straightly.

"Megatron just sent out Shockwave and Soundwave to get one bone, and then he had me send out Vehicons to retrieve another bone!"

"So what?"

" _He didn't send me!_ And why would that be? He knows I'm competent enough to retrieve something valuable like an Omega Key! I delivered _all four_ of them to him! So why didn't he send _me_ to retrieve that cursed bone? Unless _you_ told him I was carrying! You traitor!"

"Hey, hey, what crawled up your tailpipe?" Knock Out protested and held his servos in front of himself. "I didn't tell Lord Megatron anything, just like I promised! Maybe he's saving you for something more important later, or perhaps…well, maybe he really _doesn't_ find you completely competent after all."

"I _am_ competent! But no one will ever take me seriously!"

"Come on, Scream, think about it! If Megatron decided to send troops instead of you, then that leaves you in the safety of the warship. And if you remain on the warship, then that will ensure the safety of your sparklings too. You should be grateful rather than being mad at me for something I didn't do."

Starscream thought about it. The thought of Megatron finding him incompetent was unbearable, but not anything he wasn't used to. He always called him incompetent, and he feared he might never prove him otherwise. The warlord seemed to have quickly forgotten about his marvelous capture and delivery of the Omega Keys, which he had rewarded him with by letting him return to the Decepticons _and_ with an armada made from his own genes. But as he thought about it, he realized Knock Out was right.

"…Fine," he simply said. "But I warn you: If you ever tell Megatron about this, I will have your head."

"Naturally," the doctor replied. "Uh, maybe you should go get some more energon cubes?"

Starscream had covered his chest with his arms, hinting at another contraction. The Seeker didn't reply, but simply left the med bay with a feeling of embarrassment and went to the storage to get some energon. As he arrived in, he noticed there were very few energon cubes left. He counted them all and concluded there were only seven left in the room. But as he was very hungry, he took and drank two cubes very quickly and felt as both the hunger and the contraction subsided. Five cubes left. This would not make Megatron happy. Knock Out was right once again; he would not be able to keep this a secret from the big guy for much longer. The sparklings could come any day now. He had to find some place safe to have them, and that was not aboard the Nemesis.

He made a decision and went to the flight deck. He knew from Knock Out's constant lectures that it was too risky for him to leave the ship in his current state, but if he was to conceive soon, he had to find a place to do it soon. He thought it would be better to find a place now instead of in the last second. So when he reached the flight deck, he transformed into jet mode – which he hadn't done for almost two weeks now, he realized – and took off into the sky, soaring among the clouds, flying towards the afternoon sun.

The sensation of simply flying through the air was the only real thing he liked about Earth – it had many things to look at, many different colors, a bright, warm sun and clouds to wash any stains off one's paintjob. Below him, he could see forests, oceans, lakes, deserts and cities flashing in all the colors of the rainbow. This was life. This was what he desired in a world without war. To simply fly and be free…

While flying aimlessly through the sky, his thoughts passed to the waterfall cove he lived in so long ago. The sight of the orange cliffs, the blue lake, the green trees, the white waterfall and the small rainbow had filled him with such a strange sense of joy that he had never found in anything before, at least not without having to massacre an Autobot. And Metalhawk…the bald eagle that he had befriended, the one who always brought him fresh fragments of energon from the lake…by Primus, he missed that bird. While thinking of sadness, his thoughts randomly passed to the bear he once fought in a forest, which he then discovered had a pair of cubs which would be orphaned when their mother died… Were all these strange feelings perhaps connected to his pregnancy? Knock Out had once mentioned that human females apparently had mood swings when they were carrying. Of course, Transformers did not have actual genders, so he wasn't sure if that applied to him as well…

A large shadow passed by him with such a force that he almost span out of control. He scouted the area around him, but whatever passed him had disappeared into the clouds, out of sight. He sighed.

"I suppose I've flown long enough. Time to return."

When he returned to the flight deck on the Nemesis, he realized he had forgotten to look for a place to conceive. He facepalmed; that had been the entire point of the flight!

"Curse these emotional memories," he hissed to himself. "Now I'll have to go again—"

"Starscream, what are you doing up here?" Knock Out's voice sounded from the entrance.

… _Scrap,_ Starscream thought annoyed. He headed back inside the ship with Knock Out by his side. The doctor was freaking out.

"You weren't about to fly off, were you? You know you aren't supposed to leave the ship in your state!"

"I know, I know, but you don't expect me to stay _here_ and conceive, do you? I was merely trying to find someplace to have them, that's all."

"Well, did you at least find anything?"

"Erm…no. Look, Knock Out, it's really important to me that Lord Megatron does not find out about my sparklings." His tone had suddenly gone out of tune with his normal voice. "He would…I mean…"

"What? You seem more worried about this than him simply yelling at you. Is there something else? Something you're not telling me?"

Starscream looked to each side as they reached the door to his quarters. As he made sure no one else was around, he opened the door and pulled Knock Out inside with him. The doctor seemed a little baffled by this action.

"Megatron…" Starscream began, "…he's not fond of younglings, neither hatchlings nor sparklings. Back during the war for Cybertron, after his normal soldiers began to fall in number, he began having constructed warriors instead of younglings. I've been with the Decepticons long enough to see what he does to those not able to battle in his army. I've seen him _execute_ hatchlings in the field, with no regard of their future. We pretended not to care like him, but I'm sure all of us felt uneasy about this. I did, anyway. 'This is not the right age for hatchlings to live in.' That's what he told us."

Knock Out listened intrigued. He had never heard of this before – admittedly, he was one of those constructed Decepticons, although back then he was more of a scientist than an actual warrior.

"I fear that…if Megatron ever learns about my sparklings, he will try to…to do the same as he did back on Cybertron. That is the reason why I have to get away from here and hide my sparklings from him when they arrive."

Knock Out remained silent for a bit. "So that's the reason…" he said thoughtfully. "All this time I thought you didn't want Megs to get mad at you. But actually, you're doing this to protect your offspring!" He laughed, which confused the Seeker to annoyance.

"And why is that so funny? You always told me they were important!"

"Actually, I didn't. I just said you brought back additional troops, but they will still take a few years before they will be combat-ready, and by then there might not even be a war left to fight in. Just saying."

Starscream was about to protest again, but then Megatron's voice sounded through the comm. link:

" _Starscream, return to Shockwave's lab immediately. We have another Predacon bone._ "

"Uh, yes, master!" the Seeker replied quickly and exited his quarters with Knock Out. "I wonder what he needs _me_ for. This is _Shockwave's_ project, not mine."

"Just go and you'll see," Knock Out prompted. "Just don't try to fly off on your own again. I'll try to find a place for you while you're gone."

Starscream stared speechlessly at Knock Out; he couldn't believe his own audio receptors. "You…you'll…"

"Eh, if it's that important to you, I'll gladly help so you don't have to constantly whine about it anymore," the doctor said shrugging and went off to the surveillance room. Starscream should have been insulted by that comment, but for some reason he was not. He couldn't help but forming a small smile on his lips.

* * *

In Shockwave's lab, the scientist was scanning the retrieved Predacon bone, a fang. The Autobots had apparently acquired the rest of the fossil, but it seemed even the tiniest fragment of CNA would help with the cloning process. When Starscream arrived in the room, he heard a fragment of the conversation between the Cyclops and Megatron, including a mention of his name.

"…I shall leave the fetching of bones to Starscream and confine myself to my laboratory in order to accelerate results."

"Excellent," Megatron replied. "For I am rather impatient to witness my army of beasts trample humankind underfoot."

"Is it really wise for Shockwave to spawn an army of beasts here in this laboratory?" Starscream protested, catching their attention. "Or within _any_ part of this warship? I mean, not even the _lone_ beast we had was compact enough to stroll these corridors without tearing them asunder. Which reminds me," he said and smiled spitefully at Shockwave, "I am so _very_ sorry for your loss."

A moment of silence broken by Shockwave himself: "I was referring to my _offsite_ laboratory, which we have erected expressly for the cloning procedures."

Once again, Starscream was unable to respond with a quirky comment and simply grumbled, giving up. "You think of everything, don't you?"

Suddenly, the room shook after a bang noise sounded from the top of the ship. Dust and pebbles fell from the walls and ceiling as something was pounding the entire ship into a tremor.

"We are under attack!" Starscream exclaimed. "Autobots?"

"Illogical," Shockwave replied and checked the monitor for energy signatures while the banging noises continued. "Though there appears to be an enormous mass up on the upper hall."

"Follow me," Megatron said, and Shockwave and Starscream followed the warlord closely. As they walked through the corridors towards the upper levels, Megatron ordered every Vehicon they met to join them and face whatever had arrived on the warship. The higher they came, the louder the banging noises and tremors became. As they arrived by the door to the flight deck, everything suddenly silenced, both sound and shaking.

The door opened, and on the flight deck in front of them…stood the Predacon, sound and alive, swaying its tail and rattling calmly. It took a few more steps forward as it noticed the Decepticons had come out to welcome it home. Its yellow optics focused on Megatron and had a soft glow in them.

"H-how did it find us?" Starscream wondered concerned. He wasn't exactly thrilled with the thought of having an army of these beasts being bred by Shockwave, the scientist that he didn't have the best relationship with, but to have this beast return to them after it seemed to finally be gone for good?

"Predacons possess precise homing instincts," Shockwave explained.

"And a stunning resilience," Megatron noted. "Starscream, assume command of my beast."

Starscream's spark skipped a beat. "M-me, master? I-I mean, I wouldn't dream of seizing such an honor from its very creator!"

"Military command of the Predacon is most logical," Shockwave replied as he walked by the Seeker, heading indoors with Megatron and the Vehicons. "Since my services are required elsewhere."

The door closed in the Seeker's face before he could protest. He laid his servos on the door, but too late. He saw a shadow on the door and heard heavy footsteps. He turned around, but it wasn't the Predacon who cast the shadow. He let out a scream as the femmebot Nightbird stood right in front of the Predacon, looking taller and bulkier than usual.

"Why, hello there, Starscream," she greeted with her unusually deep voice for a femmebot. "How funny to run into you here, on this Decepticon warship. I thought you were still scurrying around in the forest like the woodpecker you are, constantly giving me a headache!"

"N-N-N-Nightbird?!" he exclaimed and fell on his aft, crawling against the door as she approached him. "What—How did you get here?! How did—"

"I met your little friend here," she replied with a silky tone. "Thought I'd return him. Beautiful creature, isn't he? You must simply _love_ this Predacon as much as you did that eagle, right?"

" _Love it?!_ I—wait, how do you know about Metalhawk?"

"I saw you crying your optics out over that little dirt mound with that oversized chicken buried under it. But that doesn't explain why you would be so mean to this poor Predacon here. Trapping him in ice and calling him names…"

"Don't you dare speak of Metalhawk that way! And it wasn't me who sent that beast to…wait, did you say… _ice_?"

"Yes, he got banished to the same place as I. I found him and freed him, and in return he let me ride on his back. I could feel his pain over how much you hated him, and I let him know I wanted your armor as much as he does. And now, we can both get a piece of you…"

"No, please, don't," Starscream begged. "Leave me alo—"

The door opened suddenly, and Knock Out stepped out. "Hey, Scream, you're gonna love what I have to show—" He stopped as he saw both the Predacon and Nightbird standing tall over Starscream on the floor, while they all three stared at the doctor, just as surprised as he was at the moment.

"Uh, what's going on here?" he asked confused and looked at Nightbird. "Who are you?"

Instead of answering, Nightbird simply ran and jumped off the warship. Starscream got up and ran to where she had jumped off from and looked down. She was gone. He sighed. He didn't actually believe she was gone – she definitely had a plan of getting herself to safety if she dared to pull off a stunt like that – but he was relieved he was once again safe from her wrath. But his feeling of safety faded as he felt and heard the Predacon's breath against his back and walked quickly over to Knock Out, trying to distance himself from the Predacon, who followed his every move.

"What was that about?" the doctor asked the air commander.

"Nothing," he replied. "Just some crazy bot who tried to kill me while I was on my own. But Knock Out, you gotta get me back inside! Lord Megatron just ordered me to take command of this Predacon! I can't do this if I'm carrying, can I?"

"Preferably, no," Knock Out said. "Technically, yes. If Lord Megatron told you to take care of the Predacon, then my hands are tied." He shrugged and went for the door.

"Wait, you can't just leave me here with this thing!" Starscream cried.

"Watch me."

The door shut behind the medic, leaving Starscream alone with the Predacon once again. He turned slowly and shakily around and laughed nervously at it. It was not amused.

Starscream sighed. _This is gonna be a loooong day…_

* * *

"You miserable beast," he said later, as he vainly tried to get the Predacon to do what he said, "I am your commanding officer, and I order you to crawl into your kennel _now!_ "

The beast simply snorted and turned its head away, sitting stubbornly where it was.

"I said _go already!_ " he shrieked and zapped the beast's leg with an energon prod. The Predacon did not like that; it turned its head at him and spat out a fireball. He managed to duck in time to keep his head, but he still felt a hot sensation on his helm. He noticed his crest was burning at the tip and – under a lot of shrieks – extinguished the fire by making several brief rubs on it with his claws. As the hotness disappeared, he sighed and looked at his claws – they had been stained with black burn marks.

"Alright then," he hissed. "If that's how we're going to do this, then so be it."

He left the Predacon and went inside the ship, ignored any Vehicons who remarked his burned crest and steered towards the relic chamber. He grabbed the Apex Armor, which had been placed right next to Airachnid's stasis cell, and left the room. Upon reaching the exit to the flight deck, he put on the armor and felt a certain nostalgia over the familiar armor surrounding him, enclosing him in a thick, more-than-durable armor which would protect him from anything, including a savage fire-blasting beast like the Predacon. This would most certainly also be more appropriate if he wanted to protect the protoforms inside him. This way he at least wouldn't activate a non-wanted arrival by an accidental blow to the chest or such.

Once fully enveloped in the armor, he opened the door and found the Predacon sleeping like he had been gone for megacycles. "Okay," he said and woke the Predacon, who looked drowsily up at him. "Now _in you go!_ "

The Predacon stood up, but not to 'go in'. Rather, it roared at him, displeased to be disturbed by this little pestilence in its sleep. This time though, Starscream was unconcerned and laughed.

"Do your worst. The Apex Armor is virtually—"

The Predacon grabbed the Apex Armor's arm and began swinging the Seeker around like a toy – one could even say squeaky toy, for he squealed and whined and repeatedly screamed: "NO! AHH! RELEASE ME! AAAHHH!"

The Predacon finally did as he said – though rather unorthodox – and flung him into the wall above the 'kennel'. Starscream wasn't hurt in any way other than his pride, but the feeling of being swung around like a toy…

" _Starscream,_ " Megatron suddenly said over the comm. link. " _Are you with the beast?_ "

"Y-yes, master! We've been…reviewing…attack maneuvers. He's doing _quite well_."

" _One of the excavation teams has failed to report in._ "

"I shall assemble my Seeker armada immediately and—"

" _I will prefer that you lead our newly returned asset on this mission, so we may see if our Predacon is as adept at fetching bones as it is hunting Autobots._ "

Starscream sighed and looked at the Predacon. "As you wish… _master_."

* * *

As much as Starscream would have preferred to fly to Scotland in his plane mode, he decided it would be better for him to keep an eye on the Predacon on the way there. So while two of his Seeker soldiers were flying right beside him, Starscream (still in the armor) rode on the Predacon's back; it was no joyride.

He had thought that if Nightbird was able to ride the beast, then so would he, but he assumed the Predacon had been more tolerant with her, because it kept trying to shake him off and he was about to fall several times. He held on as tightly as possible to the beast's spikes to avoid falling off, because he didn't know how much height the armor could take – or how much _he_ could take inside the armor.

Finally they reached the ground, where they found the same cobalt blue ship that belonged to Ultra Magnus, the same one that had lured the Predacon into the GroundBridge that sent it to Antarctica. The beast made most effort in shaking Starscream off its back as they landed on the ground, sending him flying off a distance from the ship. While the Vehicons joined their commander, the Predacon seemed to follow an invisible trail down into the valley below the cliff where the Autobot ship was parked. Starscream let it go. He was more interested in the ship.

He rose up and with the Vehicons walked up to the ship and investigated it. There had to be a button somewhere.

"Commander Starscream," one of the Vehicons informed and pointed at a large button on one of the legs on the ship. Starscream smirked and pressed it. The hatch on the underside of the ship opened and they went inside.

"Surrender, Autobots!" he said out loud, but no one responded; no one even came to greet them.

"They don't seem to be here, commander," the other Vehicon observed.

"Brilliant observation, I couldn't have said it better myself," Starscream said sarcastically. "They must be hiding somewhere. Search the ship!"

They did, but it didn't take more than two cycles to learn that no one was aboard. Not that they needed to search to know that, but he wanted to make sure. He sighed and pressed on a button on the wall, which made the hatch go down again, letting them outside.

"Given that the ship is currently unoccupied, it would seem the Autobots _did_ stumble upon our little mining operation. No worries, _my_ Predacon is no doubt dismantling the interlopers as we speak. It was a challenge, but I managed to _tame_ the savage beast," he lied boastingly. "Taught it to heed my _every_ command!"

"You're not wearing the armor to protect yourself from it?" one of the Vehicons asked.

Starscream stiffened, but turned around while keeping a straight face. "From my beloved pet? Of course not! In fact, it's getting rather warm in here…"

He pressed the button on the armor's chest, and it immediately transformed off him, until he could simply take the small disc off his chest and put it down on a nearby boulder.

"Ahh, ventilation," he said and stretched his limbs. Despite being so thick and protective, he had personally discovered that the armor did not protect its wearer against heat, and it was rather difficult to breathe in. It felt good to get out of the armor, really good, actually. But he felt so exposed without it on, knowing that the Predacon was loose, and the Autobots somewhere nearby…

Suddenly, an explosion sounded just a hundred meters from where they stood. Starscream walked towards it, followed by his Vehicons, and watched the dust cloud rise from a hole in the cliff. He smirked at the sight and imagined the Predacon tearing the Autobots limb from limb down there.

"Ooh, that'll do some damage," he snickered but then silenced. He heard a very faint, tapping sound, somewhere behind them. He turned around and giggled as he saw Miko, the human girl whom the Autobot Bulkhead kept as a pet. If _she_ was here, Bulkhead and his friend Wheeljack would no doubt be somewhere nearby as well. That is, unless the Predacon had taken care of them.

She ran towards the ship, but was miserably slow. He took a few steps forward, then took a long step and placed his ped in front of her, right as she was near the hatch. She stopped in her tracks and let out a small exclamation from the surprise. She looked up, and their gazes met.

"Miko, is it?" he snickered, amused at her reaction. "Oh, I'm sorry, were you trying to reach this ship? To call for help, perhaps?"

He pressed the button on the leg of the ship, making the hatch start to go up again. Miko seemed scared for a nano-cycle, but then she started running full speed towards the hatch, the two Vehicons standing behind her, merely watching as Starscream swiped his claws in her direction, but missed and hit the ground instead. He turned around and chuckled as she jumped and grabbed onto the hatch, because she was still far lower than him; she was an easy prey. He was merely toying with her at the moment. He planted his claws into the hatch, but she avoided his attack.

Suddenly, without warning, she jumped off the hatch and had direction towards… _the Apex Armor!_

Before he could stop her, she had latched onto the armor, pressed the button, and then they watched as the armor enveloped her in its durable shell, much like it had with Starscream so many times. Her version of the armor was, however – naturally – much smaller than Starscream's.

"What's the matter, Screamy?" she mocked. "Can't pick on someone your own size?"

He took a few uneasy steps back, but suddenly a roar sounded and a fossilized optic sensor fell at the peds of Starscream. He looked baffled at it.

"What do you know," he mumbled. "It _does_ fetch."

The Predacon arrived immediately after and Miko ran off screaming but was pounced on by the beast. It slashed and swiped at the armor, and for once Starscream found amusement in the Predacon attacking someone wearing the armor.

"Go ahead, make a wreck of her," he shouted as he picked up the optic sensor. "As you no doubt did the Wreckers!"

" _Starscream,_ " Megatron's voice sounded through the comm. " _Status report!_ "

"Master, we have secured the bone, and our Predacon is dealing with the Autobots' pet human as we speak. On _my_ command, of course," he boasted.

" _I will not risk losing a precious commodity to your arrogance! Have the beast return with my prize immediately! You can stay behind and finish the Autobots._ "

"Yes, master," Starscream sighed and speculated for a moment. "Assuming I can coerce the brainless brute into—Gah!"

The Predacon had lost interest in the human and pounced on Starscream instead, sticking its hot mouth into his face. It must have heard his insult and was about to melt his face! He closed his optics and waited for the inevitable, but the beast instead took the optic sensor in his servo and took off with it, leaving Starscream and his Seekers behind with the girl in armor. He sat up in disbelief.

"What?! You never obey _my_ commands!" he exclaimed insulted and rose up, watching the Predacon flying off without concerning itself of its companions. Starscream shook his head and turned to his Seekers instead. "You heard our master! We must locate the Autobots! As soon as I retrieve what belongs to me…"

He walked over to Miko, lying still in the small crater the Predacon had made while pounding her. She seemed to be unconscious. He chuckled.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, even the strongest armor can't protect the weakest of creatures," he said and kneeled down to deactivate the armor, but suddenly it made a quick movement and grabbed hold of the Seeker before he could realize that Miko wasn't unconscious after all.

"Protected _you_ , didn't it?" she burned him.

She pushed him away, and before he could recover, she grabbed hold of his arm and swung him around in a circle several times before throwing him against one of his two Seekers, both falling onto the ground. The other Seeker fired his lasers at her, but they had no effect on the armor. As Starscream got the other Seeker off him, she started to run towards them, lifted the attacking Vehicon up and threw him backwards. As she was not used to the heavy armor, however, she struggled to keep her balance, which Starscream intended to use to his advantage. He launched one of his arm-missiles, but instead of hitting her, she caught it with the armor's hand, causing it to explode.

Starscream covered his face until the noise was gone, and when he looked at the smoke cloud, he saw Miko jump out from it and planted her feet into his chest in a hard blow. He was flung backwards, hit the ground once on his back, landed on his stomach and almost lost consciousness. He struggled to keep awake, all while listening to the Vehicons fighting the girl and feeling another contraction torment his insides. _Please, not now, not now…_ he thought and remembered Knock Out's warning, once again. _Don't leave the Nemesis._ He wondered if the doctor knew he had left the ship, with the Predacon and was fighting the Apex Armor, nonetheless. The Seeker swore that as soon as he got back up, he would retreat and return to the warship, asking Knock Out if he had found a place for him to conceive in…

The pain finally subsided, as it had apparently only been called upon by the blow, since he wasn't hungry yet. He got up and saw Miko having taken down both of his Seeker Vehicons. The sight enraged him. He had never been so humiliated before, getting tossed around and beaten up by a mere human child! He forgot all about retreating and readied his claws for further combat.

"You do know that I vanquished Cliffjumper, don't you?" he snarled, done with playing games.

"Big whoop," she replied unimpressed. "I snuffed _Hardshell!_ "

Her words took Starscream by surprise – it seemed to happen to him a lot lately. He had heard of Hardshell, the former leader of the Insecticons, but had never met him before. He knew the Insecticon leader had been powerful, scarred and almost invincible. He had always thought his demise had been by Optimus Prime or at least an _Autobot_ , not a small human girl!

They stared each other down for about five nano-cycles when Starscream noticed three Autobots were coming their way from behind her. Ultra Magnus, Bulkhead and Wheeljack. So it _were_ the Wreckers who had attacked the excavation team after all.

Realizing they were outnumbered and wounded – and not wanting to risk the lives of the protoforms – he ran off and transformed. "Retreat!" he told his Vehicon Seekers, and they followed him close behind.

"Such a drag!" he hissed while flying into the sky. "The Predacon is rude to me, I lost my Apex Armor, we got humiliated by the Autobots' human pet, and—"

An unbearable pain appeared in his torso. This was worse than anything he had ever felt before; he couldn't even concentrate on flying and span out of control, falling towards the ground. Luckily he managed to transform just before hitting the ground, thus preventing fatal damage, but he did not go unscathed.

"Commander Starscream!" the Vehicons shouted as they followed him to the ground, though they transformed and landed gracefully instead of falling into it. "What happened? Did they hit you?"

Starscream couldn't say anything, he couldn't sense a word they were saying, even his vision was merely a blurr. All he could sense was the unbearable pain in his chest, the worst contraction he had ever had, a feeling of being kicked, shrunk and burned on the inside all at once, at full power, and it wouldn't go away. In fact, it only got worse, and he couldn't move anything other than his head and holding his arms around his pained torso.

The pain decreased a little, and he got up on his knees, his senses slowly returning to him. Ignoring the Vehicons' concerned outbursts, he noticed the Autobots were coming towards them: Wheeljack was driving in the front with Bulkhead driving close behind him, followed by Miko still in armor running after them, with Ultra Magnus running by her side. They had noticed they had descended to the ground and were now coming after them!

"G-get the Autobots!" Starscream commanded, and though the Vehicons first looked hesitant, they obeyed their commander and went off towards the Autobots, shooting at them and engaging them in battle.

Without warning, another contraction went in, even more painful than the other one, and this time it really didn't go away. He held back a scream, trying to get it under control. _Not now, please not now, please wait…_ But it didn't go away like the other times.

He remembered how hard Miko had kicked him in the chest, and suddenly he realized what the burning pain in his chest meant. He tried to open a comm. link to the Nemesis.

"Knock Out, please, come in!" he screamed, no longer able to hold back his panic. "They're coming! The sparklings are coming!"


	24. Chapter 22

**WARNING: THE FOLLOWING CHAPTER CONTAINS MATERIAL THAT MAY BE OFFENSIVE OR SENSITIVE TO SOME PEOPLE. ALSO, EATING WHILE READING THIS IS NOT RECCOMMENDED. ENJOY!**

* * *

CHAPTER 22

* * *

"Knock Out!" Starscream hissed into the comm. link. "Answer me—Argh!"

He lay on the side, crouching in a fetal position, covering his arms around the burning torso of his. The sparklings were coming, the communicator wasn't working, and he was all alone to conceive in a vulnerable location. At least he had his Seekers…

"Alright Screamy," a voice that might belong to Wheeljack sounded, making him stiffen. "Give us the Predacon bone or else!"

"I…don't…have it…" he whispered, struggling to even speak. "The Predaco—OOWWW!"

"Easy, Jackie," a voice that sounded like Bulkhead's said.

"I didn't do anything. He's just being a wuss."

Starscream struggled to open his optics and saw the blurry images of Wheeljack, Bulkhead and Ultra Magnus, along with the armored Miko, all standing around him and staring him down.

"Go away…don't you dare… _come any closer!_ " He swiped weakly out with his arm but quickly retracted it and resumed his crouching position. Before he closed his optics again, he saw the bodies of his two Seeker Vehicons, having been taken out by the Autobots. He was alone and at the Autobots' mercy.

"Wow, and here I thought you couldn't get any more pathetic," Wheeljack mocked. "How about we put him out of his misery, huh, Bulk?"

"Yeah, you can finally avenge Cliffjumper!" Miko said in agreement. Starscream's spark started to beat faster, and he took quick breaths in attempt to cool down his burning torso, but it didn't help. If the Autobots weren't going to kill him, then the sparklings would overheat him and he could possibly explode!

"Kn-Kn-Knock…O-Out…" he tried again faintly, but there was still no response. He could already feel Wheeljack's blade lightly brush his armor and felt panic rising, the stress further increasing his pain.

"Soldier," Ultra Magnus said and laid a servo on Wheeljack's shoulder before this one could kill the Seeker. "I think he has had enough. Protocol says that any enemy requesting surrender must be obliged."

"Fine, sir. So, Screamy. Do you surrender or should I just cut you to bits right away and get it over with?"

Starscream managed to get on his servos and knees, but he couldn't respond. He couldn't even breathe, it felt like there was something stuck in his throat, something which cut off his ventilation and made his torso even hotter. He felt the tip of Wheeljack's blade on his helm.

"Answer me!"

Starscream answered by puking out a puddle of blue energon under a loud exclamation, right at the peds of Wheeljack. They all took a step back in surprise, including Wheeljack who had gotten a large blue lump on his ped.

"Urgh, what in Primus' name is this…?" he said and shook the lump off.

The lump seemed to crack and blue energon poured out everywhere, along with a small, almost human-sized mechanoid. Its head resembled that of a Scraplet, but unlike the actual pests, this one had a larger, more humanoid body, two legs, two arms, a pair of blunt servos and peds, a black torso and an uncovered spark chamber, showing a small blue spark flickering faintly. It was the first of Starscream's sparklings.

The Autobots and human stared shocked at the sight. Before anyone of them could say anything, before Starscream could even recover, a blast sounded from his chest, making him fall backwards onto his back, and out flew a pink lump, along with another puddle of blue energon. When it hit the ground, it burst and out poured pink energon, along with another sparkling with a faint spark in the same color. Both sparklings had their optics closed, unconscious and unaware of their surroundings.

Starscream took a moment to breathe, in an attempt to cool down his systems, as the contractions settled for a moment, but he knew they would return. There were still four more sparklings to go. Four more turns of pain that sent him to the Pits. While he rested, he listened to the Autobots' conversation, not really caring about anything at the moment other than resting.

"What the Pit just happened?" Wheeljack exclaimed. "Are those…?"

"We should call Ratchet," Bulkhead suggested. "We'll figure out what to do with him afterwards. Sir, permission to—"

"Already called him, soldier," Ultra Magnus replied. "He should be here any moment now."

"No, don't…" Starscream gasped as another contraction made its arrival, barely catching their attention. "I need Knock Out…"

"If it wasn't for your current situation, Screamer, I'd pound you into scrap metal for everything you've done," Bulkhead threatened. "Just be grateful that we're actually _helping_ you—Look!"

Right in front of them opened a GroundBridge portal, and seconds later Ratchet stepped out of it with his medical kit. He looked concerned at all of them.

"I heard there was an emergency. Who—" His gaze fell on Starscream on the ground, leaking and screaming while holding his arms around his chest. He frowned at the sight. "You again?! Can't your own doctor take—"

He silenced as the Wreckers pointed at the ground, particularly at the two sparklings lying unconscious. His gaze went from the sparklings to the suffering Starscream, and he understood what was happening. "Set him up."

While Ratchet opened his medical kit and Bulkhead lifted the Seeker on the back to get him to sit up, Starscream felt another sparkling stuck in his throat, cutting off his air supply and further heating up his torso. Miko stood around and stared at the scene – she didn't understand what was happening at all.

"What's going on here? What are those _things_ coming out of him? What are you guys doing?"

"Starscream is having sparklings," Ultra Magnus answered her. "The first stage in Cybertronian life."

This confused Miko even more. "Wait, Starscream is having _babies?!_ But he's a guy! You're robots, how can you even—"

"Later, it looks like there's another one coming," Ratchet said and held his servos out at the Seeker, preparing to catch the next sparkling.

He wasn't exactly comfortable with all these Autobots scurrying around him, especially with Bulkhead holding a tight grip around his arms to prevent him from holding around his torso which was leaking like crazy. He had no idea how to handle this, and all this pain, energon and overheat was overwhelming. He had never been so terrified in his life before; it felt like he was going to die, right there and then. But at least he wasn't alone with this situation anymore, even _if_ his helpers were Autobots. He decided it would be best to do what they said until this nightmare was over.

"Come on, out with it!" Ratchet urged him.

Starscream tried to spit out the sparkling stuck in his throat, but the lack of ventilation caused one in his torso to simply blast out like the previous one. Bulkhead held tightly as the blast pushed the Seeker backwards, and Ratchet managed to catch the green lump in his servos. The sac breached itself and out came a sparkling with a green spark, soaked with similar green energon, also unconscious. Ratchet put it down beside him and held out his servos again, drawing his attention from the newborn to the ones still coming.

"Don't just stand around, take the newborns and clean them up," he told Ultra Magnus, Wheeljack and Miko. "You'll find what you need in my medical kit."

Starscream did not want the Autobots to touch his sparklings, but instead of words he coughed and harked and finally he emptied his bowels and puked out a puddle of blue energon along with a yellow sac, which Ratchet caught in his servos.

"Good, good," Ratchet praised and laid down the sparkling for the others to clean. "Now that you can speak again, I need to know how many sparklings are you carrying?"

"S-s-six…" Starscream coughed, still trying to recover from the puke. "Th-they are…"

Before he could continue, another blast came from his torso, hitting Ratchet right in his stomach. The red sac breached from the impact, and along with red energon came a fifth sparkling, this one with a blood red spark.

"Here," Ratchet said and handed the sparkling over to Ultra Magnus, ready to clean the newborn. "Six, you say? That means…" He counted the ones already born. "There's one more to go, then. Hang in there, we'll get it out."

While taking a rest from the previous contractions, Starscream stared at the Autobots with his blurry vision. He had a bad taste in his mouth, he couldn't think clearly because of his massive energon loss, and most of all he just wanted to lie down and join with the AllSpark.

"Why…why are you…doing this…" he asked in gasps, struggling to keep his optics open and look at Ratchet.

"What you're carrying is beyond valuable, and it is our duties as Autobots to make sure they are unharmed. This has nothing to do with compassion for you," he said. "We'll never forget what you did to Cliffjumper, for what you did on Cybertron, for anything you've done. But I won't blame your offspring for the damage you have caused. That is not what Autobots do."

Starscream was trying to process all this, but they were just empty words, even the ones that should sting. He felt another contraction and let out the loudest scream he could produce. He felt like this last one wanted to come out from both his mouth and his chest at the same time. It was the worst and longest pain he had ever felt in his whole, miserable life, and he just wanted it to stop.

"Come on, hang in there!" Ratchet encouraged. "Out with it!"

Instead of coming out, however, the pain only decreased for a while, as if this last sparkling was intentionally tormenting him for as long as it possibly could. "…kill me…please…" he whispered in brief breaths, taking advantage of the pause. "Make…make it stop…"

"Sorry, did you think I'd ever let you get what you wanted?" Ratchet said with a hint of mocking. "You were lucky those times you got me to patch you up. You're simply getting what you deserve right now."

"Yeah, it's karma!" Miko said in agreement, but was silenced by Bulkhead.

The contraction returned, even worse than before. He let out a scream so loud that he was certain Knock Out or even Megatron could hear him from the warship, however far away it was at the moment.

"MAKE IT STOP! PLEASE, MAKE IT STOOOOP!" he screamed.

"The sooner you get this over with, the sooner the pain will stop," Ratchet replied impatiently.

"SCREW YOU! SCREW THE SPARKLINGS! JUST KILL ME ALREADY!"

"Can't we for once do as he says?" Wheeljack asked irritated. "He's really getting on my nerves…"

"No, we have to save the sparkling!" Ratchet said. That seemed to be all they cared about. Sparkling, sparkling, sparkling! No one cared about the pain Starscream was going through right now! Oh, if they knew how he was feeling right now, then they might think otherwise…

"LET ME GO! LET ME GOOO!" he screamed and twisted and turned in Bulkhead's grip in panic while the contraction was still going. He had had enough. "HELP! MEGATRON! KNOCK OUT! ANYONE! HELP MEEE!"

Everyone but Ratchet and Bulkhead covered their audio receptors – and Miko her ears – as he continued screaming through the unbearable pain. This sparkling just didn't want to come out. He didn't notice his optics were filled with oily tears and the brown lubricate poured down his faceplate. He tried to turn his servos into lasers, but he was too depleted of energon. He then tried to fire one of his missiles, but Bulkhead noticed what he was doing and held tightly on the arms where the missiles resided.

Then, finally, after several cycles of pain and suffering, he felt the pesky little lump cutting off his air supply and bended over to gag, preparing for one last puke. _Just this last one…and then it's over…_ he thought desperately to himself, trying to keep his suicidal thoughts away.

"Yes, that's it, get it out!" Ratchet encouraged and held his servos impatiently under the Seeker's head.

He coughed for about half a cycle, then he felt the lump slide through his throat and puked it out under a loud bawl. It seemed as if the little remains of energon within him poured out along with the small purple sac into Ratchet's servos, breaching and revealing a sparkling much smaller than its siblings, having a spark flickering purple. As soon as the sparkling left his body, along with all the blue energon, Starscream went limp, prompting Bulkhead to finally let go of him. He let his body fall flat down on the ground, exhausted and completely drained of energy and energon.

"Uh…Scream?" Bulkhead said cautiously.

"D…don't mind me…" he mumbled, laying his head on the side. "I just…need to rest…for a few…hours…"

"Hey, you promised me I could kill you afterwards, don't take the fun away by falling asleep!" Wheeljack exclaimed. "...Screamy?" Starscream did not respond, simply lay still. He had lost consciousness.

"So, um…what now?" Miko asked unsure. "What do we do with these…sparklings?"

Ratchet looked from the unconscious Starscream to the Autobots and Miko, each holding one or two sparklings, then down at the sparkling he was holding himself. "We have to take them back to base. The Decepticons will find him eventually, he'll be fine. But we can't let Megatron get hold of these sparklings."

"Then let's take the GroundBridge back to base!" Miko said and carried the pink-sparked sparkling into the GroundBridge portal. Wheeljack took the red sparkling through, Bulkhead the green one and Ultra Magnus the blue and yellow ones. Ratchet took his medical kit, looked at his servos, soaked in blue and other colors, then down at the unconscious Seeker, who was still leaking blue energon among the huge blue puddle surrounding him - some parts stained by the other colors of energon - and the colorful sacs laying here and there among the energon. He made a decision and picked up the energon sacs along with the purple sparkling, and then he went through the portal to join the others back at base.

Merely a cycle after the Autobots' GroundBridge disappeared, another one appeared somewhere behind Starscream, and a figure stepped out from it. It was Knock Out. He had received Starscream's emergency transmission after all.

"I'm here, are you—Oh, dear Primus!" he exclaimed as he saw Starscream lying in a lake of his own energon. "I knew it! I knew it was a bad idea for him to stray off on his own! Starscream, what were you thinking? Starscream? Scream!"

As Starscream didn't respond, didn't even move an inch, Knock Out went over to him and laid a servo on his neck. There was a pulse. He was still alive, thank Primus…

"Fine, you want special treatment? Here you go!" he said and lifted the leaking Seeker up. He was too big for him to carry in his arms, but he managed to carry him through the GroundBridge on his back. As he arrived back on the warship, he attracted quite a few curious looks from passing Vehicons and Insecticons. He ignored them and made his way to sickbay, where he put Starscream down on the operation table and connected him to a lot of cables, desperately trying to close his wounds and supplying him with fresh energon. He checked his status meter: It wasn't good. He was very low on energon.

"Come on, Starscream, I know I didn't hear your transmission until a few cycles ago, but you gotta stay with me, okay? Alright, let's get this over with…"

He ran his scanner across the Seeker's body and was stumped to find nothing. No colorful balls, no extra energy signatures, nothing.

"Where are the sparklings…?"

* * *

Back at the Autobot base, Arcee was waiting with the children, holding the GroundBridge for Ratchet, awaiting his return. He had told them there was some kind of emergency in Scotland, but not what kind.

"What do you think the emergency is?" Jack asked Arcee. "Do you think any of them is hurt?"

"I'm not sure, Jack," she replied. "We'll just have to wait and see."

"I hope it's not Miko," Raf said concerned. "I haven't seen her around for a while. I'm sure she went with them there."

"I think so too," Jack replied and laid a hand on the younger boy's shoulder. "But Bulkhead and Wheeljack are with her. She'll be safe…hopefully."

"The native is being rude," Ultra Magnus' voice sounded as he entered the GroundBridge, holding something in his servos. "He forgot I was there."

"Ultra Magnus! Sir," she added, to not sound rude. "What happened?"

"We had a little…emergency," Bulkhead answered as he got through, also holding something in his servo. Wheeljack and Ratchet came through as well, each holding something in their servos, and Miko arrived as the last one, wearing the Apex Armor. What she was holding, however, was big enough to notice the difference – well, more different than her wearing the armor, anyway. It was a human-sized robot, silver with a black torso and a head looking suspiciously a lot like a Scraplet.

"Miko? Is that you?" Jack said, relieved she was okay, but also confused. "You're wearing the armor!"

"Gee, I didn't notice!" she said teasingly while carrying her luggage in her arms like a person.

"What's that you got there?" Raf asked, pointing at the sparkling. "What you _all_ got there?"

The newcomers were being looked at and examined for what they were holding; six small robots, all alike except for their various colored sparks. They had all been wiped clean of energon, but they still seemed to be unconscious.

"Put them on my work table," Ratchet said to the others. "I have to examine them."

They did as told and put all six sparklings down on Ratchet's work table with inches distance from each other. Each one of these sparklings was barely the size of the children, being about Jack's height. Right at the moment, however, they had all crouched together into fetal positions, so it seemed they were not so unconscious after all. Occasionally they let out faint squeaks and coos. They started to look a little more alive as they moved their heads and curled up more tightly, perhaps in an attempt to keep themselves warm. One of them rolled over and interacted with one of its siblings. They both seemed to feel the sensation of warmth and crawled toward each other. Soon their four other siblings started to feel this same sensation and joined with them in a pile to keep each other warm. They settled down a bit, feeling safer in numbers.

"Fascinating," Ratchet said, staring at the sparklings. They all looked intrigued at the little figures, including the humans, but the latter ones were most of all curious about what was going on.

"Could someone please explain what's happening here?" Raf asked impatiently. "What are those? Where did you find them?"

"They are sparklings," Ratchet explained. "Cybertronian infants, if it's easier to understand that way. They are the offspring of Starscream."

"Wow, Starscream?" Arcee repeated, just as shocked as the humans. "Of all bots who could deliver these, it had to be _Starscream?!_ "

Ratchet noticed Arcee's angry expression as she stared at the sparklings. "I know how you must feel about this, Arcee, but we can't blame the sparklings for what their parent did. Starscream was the one who took Cliffjumper's life, not them."

"I know, but…but…why? Why did you help him?!" She was furious. "You had the chance to take him out, and you didn't do it?!"

"That's what I said," Wheeljack said in agreement. "Right now he's just lying out there in Scotland, leaking out until—"

"My ship!" Ultra Magnus suddenly said. "I forgot my ship! I need a GroundBridge back to where you found us, Ratchet."

"Arcee," Ratchet requested, and the blue femmebot opened a GroundBridge, still locked onto the coordinates of the _Iron Will_.

As soon as the portal opened, before Ultra Magnus left, Arcee said: "Can I come with you? Sir?"

Ultra Magnus thought for a while. "Affirmative. We'll be back soon," he added to the others, and then they left the base. Wheeljack shut down the GroundBridge, as they wouldn't return through that.

"I'm not sure how wise it was to let Arcee go with him to seek revenge on Starscream," Ratchet said, "but we can't worry about that now. Right now, we need to stabilize these sparklings."

"Stabilize?" Raf replied in confusion. "They look pretty stable to me."

"Yeah, they kinda look like newborn babies," Jack noted. "Well, except they're bigger and more metal, I guess…"

"You don't understand what I mean," Ratchet replied. "These sparklings are used to being inside Starscream's warm body, filled with energon. Now they're out here, in cold reality and without the lifeblood of all Cybertronians. I need to stabilize their temperature and give them energon, or they will perish."

"Well, get on it, then!" Miko exclaimed as she had gotten out of the armor, with a little help from Bulkhead.

Ratchet nodded and put on a pair of wires on each of the sparklings, connected to a termo-device. As he turned the devices on, the sparklings seemed to loosen up a little, relaxing a bit more than before when they were shuddering with coldness. They seemed to like the heat from the thermo-devices.

"Good, their temperatures are stabilizing. Now all we need is to give them energon…"

A GroundBridge portal opened, and Arcee returned, without Ultra Magnus. The others looked confused at her.

"I thought you were going with Ultra Magnus?" Ratchet asked.

"I…changed my mind," she simply said. "He wasn't there. Someone must've taken him while you were gone."

"Oh, you're talking about Scream," Wheeljack said. "For a second I thought we had to go look for that—"

His words were cut off by a sudden loud wailing. It was coming from the sparklings, not just one, but _all_ of them. Their wailing sounded very strange, much different from the cry of a human baby, more similar to that of an animal baby, like a bear cub. They wailed loudly in distress, catching everyone's attention. Even Agent Fowler exited his office covering his ears, to see what was going on.

"What is that cursed noise?!" he asked loudly, then spotted the crying sparklings on the table. "What the heck are those?"

"Sparklings," Ratchet said loudly. "I'll explain later. We need to give them energon right now! Arcee, Bulkhead, Wheeljack, go fetch some cubes!"

They did and returned with six cubes, one for each sparkling. Ratchet put a small hose in each of them and handed them to the sparklings.

"Aren't you going to give them drip?" Raf asked confused. "Like usual?"

"They are too small and vulnerable right now," Ratchet replied. "It's safer if they drink it."

As each of the sparklings were given a hose, they stopped wailing and seemed to examine the objects given to them by sniffing them, though still with closed eyes. They still seemed to be getting used to being out in the light after five months of darkness. One of them, the one with the blue spark, put its hose to the mouth to test it. A few nano-cycles later, energon flowed from the cube to the end of the hose, getting sucked up by the sparkling.

But just as Ratchet was about to sigh of relief, the sparkling threw the hose away and spat out the energon in its mouth, followed by an even louder wailing. This prompted the rest of them to throw their own hoses away and wail as well, as if waiting for their sibling's approval or rejection, in this case rejection. Ratchet stared on in disbelief.

"But…what? This shouldn't have happened," he said, starting to feel a sense of panic. "Why won't they drink? Something's wrong here…"

"Maybe it's too cold?" Jack suggested. "If they're used to heat, then they must be used to warm energon too, right?"

"Used to… _used to!_ " Ratchet said and slapped his forehead. "Of course, it's the wrong energon!"

The Autobots and humans looked at each other and him, confused. "Wrong energon? You have to explain yourself," Wheeljack said, breaking the ice.

"I believe these sparklings will only take one kind of energon," the medic said. "The same energon that they have lived in for their whole lives, the energon that has kept them alive until this very day they arrived."

They started to realize what he was talking about. "You mean…" Arcee said.

"Yes," Ratchet confirmed. "Starscream's energon."


	25. Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23

* * *

"There, that should do it," Knock Out said and wiped his lubricate-wet forehead. He had spent at least twenty cycles closing Starscream's wounds and supplying him with fresh energon, and finally it seemed the Seeker was beginning to stabilize. His brainwave activity beeped occasional and steadily, though with some minor disturbances. It seemed as if the air commander was in a limbo, standing on a line between life and death, unable to commit to either. The sight reminded the doctor of the time Megatron had been on that table, in the same situation as the Seeker – well, almost the same, excluding the protoforms of course.

"Knock Out," Megatron's voice sounded from outside the lab.

Knock Out's spark skipped a beat and ran over to the door as it opened, stepping outside in front of the warlord and closed it quickly afterwards. He struck a pose in an attempt to look casual – and failed.

"Hey, Big M! You called me? What's the news, huh?" he said in a painful tone.

Megatron raised an eyebrow by this behavior. "What's going on?" he asked with a deep voice.

"On? There's nothing going on, I'm just…" Knock Out tried to think of an explanation. "…working on the synthetic energon formula, that's it! It's coming along quite well, I assure you, my liege…"

"Good," Megatron said, but his expression revealed he knew something was going on. "Have you seen Starscream anywhere?"

"Starscream? No, haven't seen him anywhere," Knock Out lied. "Why?"

Megatron snorted by the answer. "Well, it seems that since my second-in-command is both absent _and_ completely incompetent, I need _you_ to go fetch the next Predacon bone, in a museum."

"Moir? Uh, of course, sir! I'll get right to it!"

"Good. Do not fail me."

After assuring his leader he would not fail him, Knock Out went through the corridors to find Soundwave so he could GroundBridge to the museum. He looked over his shoulder and was relieved to find that Megatron had left to return to the command center. _That was close,_ he thought. He didn't know why he had lied about Starscream's whereabouts to the warlord, but he was certain that if Megatron had seen the unconscious Seeker in sickbay, he would start asking questions. Questions he did not want to answer, in case Starscream woke up and found out about it. But he was also unsure if it was a good idea to leave the air commander behind in his lab unattended while he went out to retrieve a Predacon bone. But he had already closed the wounds, supplied him with energon and stabilized his brainwave activity. There was nothing more he could do for him – he had to get out of this limbo by himself.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt for me to be gone for half a megacycle," he mumbled to himself. "He'll be fine."

* * *

"They're coming back now," Raf informed.

The GroundBridge at the Autobot base had stayed open for Ratchet and Wheeljack to go back to Scotland through and return again. After having a long discussion about what to do, they decided it would be best to gather up the energon spilled during the birth of the sparklings, to test Ratchet's theory, and giving that they were unable to reach Starscream at the moment. When they returned through the GroundBridge, it turned out they had only filled a single cube of energon; it was mostly blue, but it had a sickly mix of green, red, yellow, pink and purple in it, looking a lot like oil in a water puddle spilled from a truck.

"Is that it?" Miko asked loudly in disbelief, while the sparklings continued to wail in the background. "Where's the rest of it?"

"This _is_ the rest of it," Wheeljack said. "I was surprised too how little energon there actually was, considering how much it stained."

"One cube should be enough," Ratchet assured. "They're small, so they need less. They should be able to get what they need from this one cube."

He put down the rainbow-colored cube on the table, next to the crying sparklings. He took the hoses from the normal cubes and put them in the sickly colored cube, giving each hose to a sparkling.

They stopped crying and investigated the hoses once again. Everyone held their breaths. The one with the blue spark sniffed its hose and put it in its mouth again for another test. Energon went from the cube through the hose and into the sparkling's mouth. It held tighter around the hose, as if it was about to throw it away again…

…then it started _purring_ and continued to suck the energon in it. As if it was a signal, the other sparklings began sucking their own hoses. All the sparklings were now curled up in fetal positions, making soothing purrs like they were big kittens, happily drinking the energon they were used to.

Everyone sighed of relief and watched with warm sparks and hearts the small forms, listening to their purring.

"It's hard to imagine that they're Starscream's," Raf remarked.

"Really? With all that screaming it's hard to imagine they _wouldn't_ be," Wheeljack noted, earning a few giggles among the others.

"Well, all jokes aside, what do we do now?" Arcee asked. "That cube won't keep them occupied forever. Sooner or later we'll have to get them more, and you know what that means."

They nodded. If the sparklings were to survive, they needed Starscream.

* * *

 _Where am I…?_

Everything was darkness. Starscream couldn't remember anything, and all his senses were shut down. He wasn't even sure if he had said that out loud or thought it. Then, he heard a voice. Familiar, yet unknown. Warm, yet intimidating. Calm, yet loud. It came from everywhere, and at the same time nowhere.

 _ **Starscream,**_ the voice said. _**I have been waiting for you. Do you know who I am?**_

He tried and tried, but his memory was completely blank, as if he had just been born. Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, one particular name struck his mind.

… _Primus…?_

A blinding light appeared before him, and suddenly everything became clear to him. His name was Starscream, he was a Decepticon commander, former leader of the Seekers on Planet Cybertron, and his enemies were the Autobots. But he did not remember how he got here, in this darkness with the only light coming from the white sphere of circling sparks.

 _Primus, what am I doing here?_ he asked concerned, with his mind rather than with his mouth. It seemed more like a dream than reality, as his senses were still shut down, and what he did see and hear was more like a blurry image, happening in his mind rather than clear and visible like reality. He could not feel anything, not even ground underneath his peds; he was merely floating in empty space, yet it felt so…freeing.

 _ **Your spark is fading, my child. You are preparing to join with me, with the AllSpark.**_

 _Join with the AllSpark? But I don't even know how I got here._

 _ **You sustained fatal damage. Suffered pain beyond your recognition. Do you remember now?**_

The Seeker thought back to his last memory. Yes, now that he mentioned it, he did remember something about unbearable pain, pain that made him wish to die immediately, energon everywhere, and then…nothing. His memory was blank after that.

 _I do. And whatever happened, I don't want it to happen again. I'm done with the pain._

He took a deep breath, or at least that's what it felt like.

 _I'm ready to join with the AllSpark._

* * *

Later, in the Autobot base, Agent Fowler had informed the team of another Decepticon signal, this time in New Mexico. Arcee and Wheeljack ended up going together; for some reason, Wheeljack seemed to want some time alone from Ultra Magnus and Bulkhead as well, but neither Ratchet nor Arcee would let him go alone, so he was convinced to let Arcee join him. Not long after they left, Jack's mother, _June Darby_ arrived at the base to deliver medical supplies to the soldiers, and stopped by the base to see how everyone was doing. As she saw the sparklings on the table, sucking energon in them, she naturally asked questions and got them answered. That they were Starscream's sparklings, that they only wanted his energon, and that the team was trying to figure out a way to find Starscream at the same time with trying to keep the Predacon bones from the Decepticons.

"So they really won't take anything but specifically _his_ energon?" June asked. "Did you try warming the other energon? It works with human babies and milk."

"It's not that simple," Ratchet explained. "It doesn't matter if the energon is warm or cold. If the sparklings refuse to drink one type of energon, they won't drink it at all. They are very sensitive to changes at this age and will refuse anything unfamiliar to them. Which means that once they're done with that cube, we'll need Starscream's help to keep them sustained."

" _Hello?_ This is _Starscream_ , remember?" Miko pointed out. "He's a _Decepticon_ , the worst kind, even! He won't care about these sparklings, will he?"

"While you are right that he can be ruthless and dangerous at times," Ratchet explained, "I cannot be sure given the current situation. He may be indifferent about his sparklings' fate, or perhaps he sees them as an opportunity to give Megatron additional troops. Under any circumstances he seems to be a first-time parent, which makes any action towards them very dangerous and risky, for them and for him. Either way, these sparklings will not be safe with him."

"Hey guys," Raf said from his computer. "Not to interrupt or anything, but I just found another Predacon bone!"

"Really? Where is it?" Bulkhead asked.

"In a museum. The same one we found that Energon Harvester in. Scientists were stumped when they found it and put it in storage because they couldn't classify it."

"Well, I didn't choose an emergency vehicle for laughs," Ratchet said, sounding ready to leave.

"Wait, you can't leave," Bulkhead protested. "We need you to keep an eye on the sparklings."

"Oh, so now I'm a nursebot, am I?"

"Uh, no! That's not what I—"

"How about _I_ go?" Agent Fowler suggested. "If it's in a museum, it'd be wiser for a _human_ to get it, instead of one of you stomping around with your big feet."

"My feet aren't big," Ratchet protested. "Just…hefty."

"I think he's right though," Jack said from the couch, playing a video game. "It would be less suspicious if Agent Fowler went. He's got army authorization and everything."

"Maybe we should just wait for Optimus to get back," June suggested.

"I'll have you know, Nurse Darby, I was an Army Ranger and federal agent for Unit:E three decades before I even heard the _name_ 'Optimus Prime'."

He then invited June to tag along with him. She was reluctant at first, but after Jack decided to ignore his game and forbade her to go because of the possible danger involved, she got annoyed and agreed to go after all. Ratchet opened a GroundBridge and let the two humans through it, coordinates set to the museum. As such, Ratchet, Bulkhead and the kids were left behind in the base.

There was silence for a while, the only sound coming from the purring sparklings.

"Okay, so, what's the story with those sparklings?" Miko said, breaking the ice. "How does a guy like Starscream get pregnant? How do you bots do it? How long 'til these little guys can kick tailpipe?"

Ratchet sighed and face-palmed. "Humans and their questions…"

* * *

 _ **Come to me, Starscream,**_ Primus said calmly. _**Your destiny awaits…**_

Starscream reached out for the light…and flinched as his servo was pushed back. He couldn't touch the AllSpark. Something was wrong…

 **PATHETIC,** a loud and intimidating voice rung through the void. He looked around for the source of the voice.

 _Wha? Who are you? Where are you?_

 **I AM HERE,** the voice said, and behind the Seeker, a large purple sphere identical to the white one appeared. It was ominous, dark and reeked of evil. Though he had never met it before, the Seeker knew who the voice belonged to. It could be no one else, in this place.

 _Unicron…_ he thought gloomily. _What are you doing here?_

 **YOU KNOW VERY WELL WHY I AM HERE. TO RECLAIM WHAT IS MINE.**

Starscream was confused. _What are you talking about? I don't have anything of interest to you._

 **OF COURSE YOU DO. YOUR** _ **SPARK**_ **.**

 _My spark? What about it?_

 **DO NOT PLAY ME FOR A FOOL. YOU TOOK MY BLOOD AND PUT IT IN YOUR SPARK. YOU DID THAT TO RAISE THE ONE CALLED 'SKYQUAKE' FROM THE DEAD.**

 _Oh, you know about that, huh…_ Starscream thought embarrassed. _But I took the crystal out of my spark chamber again! I don't have any dark energon in me, Lord Megatron does!_

 **NAIVE LITTLE MORTAL,** Unicron bellowed, though his tone suggested he was being calm. **YOU ARE A GREEDY ONE, GREEDY LIKE YOUR PUNY SPARK. YOU MAY NOT CONTROL THE DARK ENERGON LIKE MEGATRON, BUT REMOVING A CRYSTAL FROM YOUR SPARK DOES NOT RID YOU OF MY BLOOD. YOUR SPARK HAS BEEN INFECTED, CONSUMED BY MY POWER, CRAVING MORE. YOU CANNOT JOIN THE ALLSPARK, NOT NOW, NOT** _ **EVER!**_

Starscream felt as if everything froze. It had been six months since he inserted the dark energon crystal he stole from Megatron's spark chamber into his own to control Skyquake. Perhaps he had made a mistake by breaking the crystal in half and first inserting it into his spark _after_ giving the other half to the fallen warrior, because the symbiosis did not work. He had felt it though, and he had also felt the power within him, summoning a dark fire around him, then spreading it into the ground below. Though when the Autobots had arrived shortly after and shot his arm off, he realized the energon did not work, and thus he removed the crystal and retreated, having his arm replaced later by Knock Out. He had never even considered that the effects of the dark energon might still be within him.

 _Well, uh…well then. I'm…sorry?_

 **THERE IS NOTHING TO DO ABOUT THAT NOW. THE ONLY THING YOU** _ **CAN**_ **DO IS RETURN TO EARTH AND RESUME YOUR MISERABLE LIFE.**

 _Wait, I can do that? How?_

 **JOIN ME,** Unicron said, in the same kind of diplomatic tone Megatron had. **JOIN WITH THE ANTI-SPARK, BECOME ONE OF MY HERALDS, AND YOU SHALL LIVE YET AGAIN…**

 _ **Do not listen to him, Starscream,**_ Primus said. Starscream had almost forgotten he was there. _**If you join him, you will NEVER be freed of your pain. You will be trapped in the living world forever.**_

 **AND WHY SHOULD AN ETERNAL LIFE DRAW HIM AWAY FROM ME, BROTHER? YOU KNOW HOW THESE MORTALS ARE ABOUT THEIR LIVES.**

 _ **You know this is wrong, Starscream, do NOT do it!**_

Starscream listened to their arguments, trying to decide what to do. An eternal life would be nice…but if it involved the kind of pain he remembered, then it didn't seem so nice after all…

 **ARE YOU WILLING TO ABANDON YOUR SPARKLINGS?** Unicron said out of nowhere.

Suddenly, Starscream remembered: The pain, the energon, the screams, it was all connected to the sparklings. _His_ sparklings…

 **THEY NEED YOU, STARSCREAM. THEY NEED YOU, AND I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN BRING YOU BACK TO THEM.** As Starscream did not answer, Unicron continued: **NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU TRY, YOU CANNOT JOIN WITH THE ALLSPARK, AND IF YOU REFUSE TO JOIN ME, YOU WILL BE LEFT TO WANDER THE VOID IN ETERNITY. SO ANSWER ME: WHICH DO YOU CHOOSE? ME, OR THE VOID?**

 _ **Do not do it, Starscream,**_ Primus repeated. _**There are consequences to this that you will regret forever. Do not let him trick you!**_

 _You know what?_ Starscream finally said, looking at the AllSpark and all its flickering sparks. _I'm done with you. I never really cared about you, the Thirteen or any of that religious nonsense! I only prayed to you because I was lonely and scared! I can clearly tell that I can't join you either way, and you want me to wander in limbo forever because it's wrong to join with Unicron? Well, you know what? Screw you, Primus!_

He turned around and reached out for the Anti-Spark that was Unicron. _My sparklings need me._

As he touched the Anti-Spark, the dark matter enveloped him and he felt unspeakable pain, worse than even birthing his sparklings. The AllSpark disappeared, leaving the Seeker in a black void with the only light coming from the eerily dark purple Anti-Spark, with a red face he assumed was meant to be Unicron's. The face made a loud, dark, demonic laughter as what seemed to be a hand made from dark sparks was holding tightly around the screaming Seeker.

 _ **HE IS MINE NOW…**_

* * *

"Hmm, fascinating…" Ratchet remarked while analyzing the scans of the sparklings.

"What is it?" Raf asked curiously.

"It seems that four of these sparklings have a unique form of innermost energon."

"Innermost energon? What's that?"

"It's the energon that lies within our very sparks, the energon that makes us who we are. While the energon flowing within our bodies comes and goes, the innermost energon stays for as long as we continue to function."

"Well, what's so unique about four of them?" Jack asked.

"Innermost energon is normally composed of regular _blue_ energon, though it is not uncommon to have artificial _pink_ energon either." He pointed at the sparklings with blue and pink sparks. "The rest, however, are kinds of energon impossible to obtain that way."

The kids took a look at the curled-up sparklings. Other than the ones with blue and pink sparks, there was one with a green, one with a red, one with a purple and one with a yellow spark. Some of these colors seemed awfully familiar…

"Red energon," Raf concluded and pointed at the one with the red spark.

"Correct," Ratchet replied. "Though the question is how it doesn't burn up all its energy right away. Red energon usually only lasts for about five cycles after consumption, but there has never been anyone having it as their _innermost_ energon before…"

"Well, what about the purple one?" Miko asked and pointed at it. "Isn't that _dark_ energon? Shouldn't that be worse?"

"Yes, it is dark," Ratchet replied. "But like with the red energon, I have no idea how it will affect the sparkling as its innermost energon. Considering it is the blood of Unicron, it's bound to gain some…issues."

"And the green?" Jack asked. "What's that? Synthetic or toxic?"

"If it was toxic, I doubt the sparkling would even be alive," Ratchet replied. "The readings indicate it's synthetic. My analysis show a great amount of energy within that one, though also with a high level of aggression, so the energon is imperfect."

The kids looked at the sparkling with the green spark. It seemed pretty peaceful as it drank from the hose and purred like a small engine. Their attention then went to the last one.

"What about the yellow one?" Bulkhead went in, having kept quiet for a while, but having listened to their conversation. "I've never heard of yellow energon."

"Me neither," Ratchet admitted. "Though there is a legend that tells of _golden_ energon. The legend says that golden energon is the blood of Primus, much like dark energon is the blood of Unicron. Some say golden energon can only be found in one particular place: The Realm of the Primes, meaning only one of the Thirteen would be able to retrieve this kind of energon. Others, however, claim that golden energon can also be found within the lost city of Dorades, a city swimming in energon, but that place is also only a myth. Which leaves me to wonder how this sparkling came in possession of such unique energon. _Any_ of these sparklings, actually."

The kids stared at the sparklings in wonder, in deep thoughts about what they had just learned.

"Well, what _I'd_ like to know," Miko said, "is how you Transformers can even get _pregnant_ and stuff!"

"I'd like to know that too, actually," Raf said in agreement. "How _do_ robots like you… _do_ that?"

Ratchet rolled his optics at the kids. "I can't tell you the details, but as Starscream has just shown us, it is very possible for us 'robots' to carry. I've only been present at such birthing processes a few times, back on Cybertron during the golden age, but it seems I haven't forgotten my skills in handling that."

"Okay, so here's _my_ question," Miko said, even though she had technically just asked one. "If there are guys and girls of you like there are of us, then how come _Starscream_ got pregnant? I mean, he _is_ a guy…right?"

"I'll have you know that gender is purely an identification thing for us," Ratchet replied, almost sounding a bit offended. "In reality we are genderless. It doesn't matter if the carrier considers themselves 'male' or 'female', heck, there doesn't even _need_ to be a carrier."

"Wait, really?" Jack replied confused. "Why not?"

"Well, most protoforms actually come from _eggs_ ," Bulkhead said this time. "And those we call _hatchlings_. 'Sparkling', well…"

"It's more like a term for young protoforms in general," Ratchet answered for him. "When a hatchling grows older, eventually we begin calling them sparklings as well."

"Oh, and by the way, 'sparkling' is also what we call newly created sparks," Bulkhead said.

"Uh, isn't that a little confusing?" Raf asked.

"Why? We're just being concrete."

"Guys, can we all just take a moment to think about _how_ Screamer got those sparklings in him in the first place?" Miko said with her arms spread. "Like, he'd still need to hook up with someone, right?"

"Miko…" Jack said and laid a hand on her shoulder.

Ratchet and Bulkhead's optics flickered, apparently not sure how to respond to this.

"It's not like what you humans do," Ratchet simply replied after a while. "It's more…spark-based. But yes, he would have needed to… _interface_ with someone else. And if my calculations on these sparklings' ages are correct, then it must have happened while he went rogue."

"The real question is," Bulkhead said, "who'd be dumb enough to take _Starscream_?"

* * *

Starscream woke up with a scream, sitting up in a fast movement. He quickly realized he was no longer in the _Void_ , but instead in Knock Out's lab on the operation table, connected to a lot of cables supporting him with energon. He took deep, fast breaths while thinking about what just happened.

He had seen Primus. More than that, he had seen Unicron. They said he was trapped, and that the only way to leave was by becoming a Herald of Unicron…

He shook his head in denial. "It was just a bad dream, that's all," he reasoned. He was still alive and well, he had never even been on the verge of death.

Then he remembered the reason why he was here.

"The sparklings!" He looked around in the room, and as he could neither see Knock Out nor his sparklings, he started to panic.

"I have to find them," he said to himself and ripped the cables off him, ignoring the soreness in his chest. He left the lab and ran across the hallways, ignoring the looks from the passing Vehicons and Insecticons, until he arrived at the flight deck where the Predacon was resting. As soon as he arrived, it looked up and growled at him. He walked cautiously along the walls to avoid it.

"Don't beat yourself up, I'm not interested in you right now, you mindless beast," he hissed at it. The insult made it growl even louder, but he didn't have time to deal with it right now. He switched to jet mode and flew off the Nemesis with his radar on full alert, determined to find his sparklings.

"Don't worry, my little ones," he said to himself. "I'll find you, no matter where you are. _And then the Autobots shall pay!_ "


	26. Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24

* * *

"Ah, a successful mission," Knock Out said as he returned to the Nemesis, having secured the Predacon bone from the museum. "Good thing His Lordship was pleased with that talon, though he didn't seem to care _as_ much for the hostages I brought home…"

He opened the door to his medical lab. "Hey, Screamer, are you still sleepi—"

He silenced as he found the lab empty; the cables were just dangling from the ceiling without anyone connected to them. He hadn't exactly expected the Seeker to be back on his legs _this_ soon after being checked in, but there didn't seem to be any spilled energon anywhere, indicating he had more or less fully recovered.

The doctor shrugged while putting the cables away. "That lunatic really gets on my nerves sometimes," he sighed. "Goes off on his own without even waiting for my approval. Though…did he perhaps go off to find those sparklings of his…?"

* * *

"I wonder what's taking them so long," Jack said concerned while sitting in the couch.

"Wheeljack and Arcee?" Raf asked.

"My mom and Agent Fowler."

"Maybe they went out for dinner after getting the bone," Miko suggested teasingly.

"Isn't that what grown-ups do when they're _dating_?" Raf asked.

"It's what grown-ups do when they're _hungry_ ," Jack corrected irritated.

Before they could continue their discussion, the GroundBridge opened, and in stepped Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and Smokescreen, having returned from their mission in Texas. The kids walked up to welcome them back.

"Good to see you, Bee," Raf said to the black scout.

" **Good to see you too, Raf,** " Bumblebee replied.

"So how did it go?" Miko asked eagerly. "Did you get the bone? Did you kick Decepticon tailpipe?"

Optimus handed over the Predacon bones to Ratchet. They were two halves of a jaw, one of them missing a fang.

"They managed to acquire a sample," Optimus said gloomily. "Though at least we secured the rest of the fossil…"

His gaze went over Ratchet's shoulder and he noticed the sparklings on his work table. The Autobot leader raised an eyebrow. Ratchet followed his gaze and understood.

"I can explain this, Optimus," the doctor said. "Bulkhead, you start."

And so Bulkhead and Ratchet began explaining to Prime and the youngsters what happened in Scotland, some details added in by Miko. Starscream's birthing of the sparklings, Miko retrieving the Apex Armor, and finally retrieving the leftover energon into a cube, feeding it to the sparklings.

"…and then Wheeljack and Arcee went off to retrieve another bone in New Mexico, while Agent Fowler and Nurse Darby went to get one in a museum. We just explained things about the sparklings to the children when you showed up."

Optimus was silent while listening to Ratchet and Bulkhead's explanation, only asking a question now and then, all while keeping his gaze on the now sleeping sparklings. As the doctor finished, he looked from him to the sparklings with an unreadable expression. The kids were wondering what thoughts went through the mighty mech right now.

An entire cycle passed in silence before Optimus said: "I am uncertain how wise it was to bring the sparklings here, Ratchet."

Everyone looked at the Prime in surprise. This was certainly not the reply they had expected from him.

"Optimus, what are you—" Ratchet began, but was interrupted by him.

"While most of the information in the Hall of Records is about the Relics, the Thirteen and energon, I did once come across an interesting passage regarding sparklings. The passage read as following:

" _After birth, an iron bond is crafted between sparkling and parent. Even if separated across two different galaxies, the parent will always find his or her offspring, driven by an unimaginable force to protect them."_

That is what the passage said."

The others stared on in fascination. "So what you're saying is…" Smokescreen began.

"…if these sparklings remain here," Ratchet continued, "Starscream will track them down and…"

"…he will find our secret base," Optimus ended. " _And_ the humans."

"We'd have nowhere else to go," Bulkhead said gloomily. "Every other place on Earth is either Decepticon territory or too populated by humans. If they find _this_ place, we're as good as gone."

They went silent for a while, thoughtful about what to do. Miko went downstairs, heading over to Bulkhead.

"Come on, you can't give up that easily," Miko scolded at the Wrecker and kicked his leg. "Even _if_ he finds us, it's still just Starscream! You guys can _easily_ take him out!"

"I'm not sure about that," Raf said skeptically. "Animal parents are usually ready to risk their lives to protect their young. Starscream might do the same."

"Besides, we need him _alive_ , remember?" Ratchet said. "Without him these sparklings will starve."

"Perhaps we could try capturing him and drain him of his energon?" Smokescreen suggested.

Optimus thought about it for a while. "In that case we would need to find a neutral place to set a trap, a place where he is at a disadvantage. And for that we would need bait to lure him." He took a look at the sparklings, sleeping peacefully. They had finished the cube, which was completely empty, despite it being about ten times their own size. Apparently they needed a lot of energon, and Starscream was the only one who could provide them with it. If they were to capture him, they needed the sparklings' help to do so.

"I have a plan," Optimus announced.

* * *

Whenever Starscream was out flying, it was usually gracefully and relaxing, at least when he wasn't shooting down Autobots. This time, however, he had no time to sightsee or feel the freedom of being in the air. An unspeakable force was driving him forward, with a voice inside his head saying _I must find my sparklings, I need to keep them safe._

Perhaps it was a sort of instinct-thing for Transformer parents, at least with carriers; he doubted parents with hatchlings would have the same kind of controlling force that made him indifferent about anything but his sparklings' safety, including his own. It didn't really bother him at the moment though; what really bugged him was that the radar seemed to be malfunctioning – at least, it couldn't pick up his sparklings' energy signals, but it couldn't normally do that with Autobots either, and the sparklings weren't Decepticons…yet, at least.

"Grrr, you stupid piece of useless junk!" he hissed at his radar and turned it off. He arrived in a canyon and transformed on a cliff to rest for a moment and to rethink his situation.

What was he aiming for here? He had just spent five months of carrying these six little protoforms, constantly being drained of energon, constant cramping pains in his chest, having to conceal it from the rest of the Decepticons except for Knock Out, and finally the birthing process caused him so much pain and damage that he had been close to dying. So why would he suddenly care about those little pests that brought him nothing but pain?

"Because if I lose those brats, then all that pain would have been for nothing," he concluded irritated. "Curse this biological instinct! If only there was a way for me to find them…where are you…?"

Suddenly, without knowing why, the answer came to him as if it was obvious. He felt something, not touching his armor, but something that touched his very _spark_. Six little voices, he heard inside his head, not with his audio receptors, but with his mind.

 _Daddy…_

 _I'm scared…_

 _Where are you…?_

 _Help us…_

 _Find us…_

 _Save us…_

He closed his optics, took a deep breath and concentrated. He let go of all surrounding sounds, ignored any distractions around him, and instead focused on the darkness, specifically the little light he sensed with his spark. The light was rainbow-colored, and it was nearby, somewhere in this canyon. He was about to open his optics again when suddenly, the light split up to four, appearing in a completely different location. This time he sensed a blue and a pink light, along with two duo-colored lights, one red and green, the other purple and yellow. This time, they were located in a place far from this canyon.

"Something's not right here…" he said as he opened his optics again. "But whatever it is, it must be where my sparklings are. I must go there, for their sake."

And so, he transformed back to jet mode and flew towards the assumed location of his sparklings.

* * *

The Autobots had arrived in a forest with the GroundBridge, positioning themselves according to plan. The plan was for them to take the sparklings in different locations of the forest, in an attempt to cause confusion for the Seeker, so he wouldn't know where to go. Bumblebee had taken the northern part of the forest, keeping the blue sparkling with him; Smokescreen had positioned himself in the southern part, watching over the pink sparkling; Bulkhead, with his enormous green body, had been given the responsibility of taking the red and green sparklings, as he would be better camouflaged among the trees and more sturdy in case of attack, hiding in the eastern section of the forest; Optimus had chosen to also guard two sparklings, the purple and the yellow sparklings, as Starscream was easily intimidated by him and therefore would not likely try to attack him, and patrolled the western part of the forest. Finally, Ultra Magnus had hidden himself somewhere in the center of the forest, standing by as back-up. Ratchet had stayed back at base in case of emergencies, and to look after the humans.

"Now, remember," Optimus informed over the comm. link, "if any of you spot Starscream, report immediately and the rest of us will come to your position. We will try to herd him into the middle where Ultra Magnus is stationed, and once he is cornered, Magnus will jump out and put stasis cuffs on him."

" _We should also do regular status reports, in case any of us get attacked and are unable to answer,_ " Ultra Magnus suggested.

"Good idea, Magnus. We will report every ten cycles of our status. Remember, once inside the forest, Starscream will not be able to fly or maneuver well among the trees. Chasing him down should be easy. Is everyone aware of their role?"

" _ **Yessir!**_ " they all said in choir over the comm.

"Good luck, everyone," Optimus said and positioned himself, keeping the sleeping sparklings close to him, "and keep your optic sensors open and audio receptors sharp."

* * *

After several cycles of following the colorful trail of the sparklings, Starscream finally arrived at his destination – a large forest. He descended to the ground and initiated bot mode, looking around with focused optics and sharpened audio receptors.

 _I don't like this,_ he thought anxiously, _something's not right here…_

He began walking among the trees and scouted for anything that could look like a sparkling. What did they look like, again? He did not remember much from the birthing process other than the pain, and what little he could remember having seen of the sparklings was either covered in energon or completely blurry because of his weakened state. How did he even know what to look for?

 _The sparks,_ he thought in realization. _I can track them by their sparks._

He closed his optics and concentrated on the spark signatures. The closest one to him was the blue light, a little to the right of him. He opened his optics and looked to the right, beginning to move in that direction.

It didn't take more than three cycles before he discovered that he indeed wasn't alone out here. He ducked as he spotted the Autobot recruit named Smokescreen; the once white youngster had changed his paintjob to blue, but he easily recognized the face of the one who once stole his precious Apex Armor from him. He dared to peek above the bushes he was hiding in. The Autobot had not seen him, lucky enough. He closed his optics and focused again – the blue light was coming from him, no doubt about it. Which meant the Autobot had one of his sparklings…

A despicable idea crossed the Seeker's mind, causing him to snicker quietly. _You'll regret having taken my sparkling, Autobrat…_

* * *

Smokescreen kept a close optic focused on the road in front of him. Soon, ten cycles had passed, and he heard Optimus' voice through the comm. link.

" _Status report, everyone, over._ "

" _All clear, over,_ " Bulkhead informed.

" _ **Nothing here, over,**_ " Bumblebee bleeped.

" _Still waiting, over,_ " Ultra Magnus reported.

"Haven't seen anything either, over," Smokescreen said.

" _Me neither,_ " Prime admitted. " _Check back in ten cycles. Over and out._ "

Without warning, the sleeping sparkling he held suddenly let out a loud wailing, much different than when they had been hungry. It seemed scared somehow.

"Hey, hey, what's the matter little guy?" he whispered and rocked it, trying to calm it down. "It's okay, there's nothing to be worried abo—"

A stinging pain cut into his back, cutting off his words. He groaned and turned his head to see what had happened and felt his spark skip a beat as he stared right into Starscream's face.

"Hello, Smokescreen," the Seeker hissed and pulled his claws out of the Autobot's back.

Smokescreen fell to his knees, dropping the sparkling on the ground and felt his face hit against the tree in front of him, then proceeding to slide down to the grass. He tried to open a comm. link, tried to just _scream_ , but all his senses disappeared before he could do anything.

Starscream laughed maliciously over the lifeless body of Smokescreen whilst looking at his blue-stained servo. "Oh, it has been too long," he snickered. "I almost forgot how fun it is to punch a hole in small Autobots."

His gaze fell on the sparkling lying on the grass beside Smokescreen, crying and crouched. Suddenly all maliciousness disappeared and was replaced with a peculiar warm feeling in his spark chamber. He observed the sparkling's small body, the twinkling little pink spark in the middle of its chest, the thin, fragile yet perfectly formed limbs, the large head with huge closed optics, and the tiny mouth that screamed for comfort. This was a tiny living Transformer protoform, a sparkling. _His_ sparkling. It was hard to believe, but he still felt this inexplicable need to pick it up, comfort it, protect him…

Him. It was a boy. He didn't know how he knew it, but he knew it. This sparkling thought of himself as a male. _So be it,_ he thought. _You're a boy._

He bended over and grabbed hold of the sparkling with one servo. The sparkling immediately stopped crying. He examined him for a moment. He was just as big as one of those human children, maybe even smaller. He was just big enough to fit in the Seeker's palm. To think that such a tiny being could cause so much pain…

"Don't worry, little one," he whispered, holding it close to his chest for a hug. "I'll keep you safe."

* * *

Ten cycles passed without any changes. Optimus Prime held gently but firmly on his sparklings, which were still sleeping. He opened the comm. link.

"Status report, over," he said.

" _ **Still nothing, over,**_ " Bumblebee bleeped.

" _Same here, over,_ " Bulkhead replied.

" _The only thing I've seen so far is a bird, over,_ " Ultra Magnus informed.

"Smokescreen, your status?" Optimus asked.

Silence.

"Smokescreen, report! Are you there?"

Still no answer. Prime felt a tinge of anxiety in his chest area, but kept his head cool. "Ultra Magnus, convert to Smokescreen's position and report on his status."

" _I'm on it, Prime,_ " Magnus replied.

Magnus moved from the center of his post and headed towards Smokescreen's post in the north. He was some dozen meters from his signal when he felt a strange change of atmosphere in this section. No birdsong, no breeze, no rustling leaves. It felt very ominous, and he immediately knew something was wrong.

"Smokescreen," Ultra Magnus called quietly. "Report!"

He arrived at the signal but could not see Smokescreen anywhere. What he did see, however, was a strange blue glow in the grass. He walked up to it and realized it was energon. It was not just a puddle, however, it was arranged in Cybertronian letters, specifically in Decepticon Regular:

 _ **NICE TRY.**_

Before he could assess the situation, a drop fell from above him and landed in the dot at the end of the message. He looked up and saw to his horror Smokescreen dangling from a thick branch, unconscious and leaking.

" _Ultra Magnus, do you have an update on Smokescreen's status?_ " Optimus asked over the comm.

"A-affirmative, sir," Ultra Magnus replied, snapping out of his paralysis. "I need a GroundBridge back to base immediately! Smokescreen is wounded!"

* * *

"What?" Ratchet replied in disbelief.

" _I repeat, Smokescreen is wounded and his sparkling is missing! I need a GroundBridge back to base immediately!_ " Magnus repeated over the comm.

Ratchet shook his head and opened the GroundBridge, fixed on Ultra Magnus' location. The commander returned immediately with Smokescreen in his arms. The youngster was leaking badly from a deep wound in his back, but at least it confirmed he was still alive.

"Get him in the med bay, immediately!" Ratchet ordered. "Return to the others, I'll handle the rest from here!"

* * *

" _Everyone, confirm your statuses,_ " Optimus said again, as soon as Ultra Magnus reported his return.

" _I'm still here, no sign of Screamer,_ " Bulkhead said. No one else answered.

" _Bumblebee, are you there? Answer me!_ "

"Sorry, Bumblebee can't talk right now," Starscream snickered through Bumblebee's comm. link. "He's a little _occupied_ right now."

" _Starscream! What did you do to Bumblebee?_ "

"Let me put it this way: Smokescreen got a mere superficial scratch compared to what your scout looks like right now. Don't try to keep the sparklings away from me. I _will_ find them, and I'll scrap _anyone_ who gets in my way! I won't hold back next time we battle. You have been warned…"

" _Starscream, don't you dare—_ " Bulkhead began, but Starscream turned off the comm. without hearing the end of it.

"Come here, darling," he said softly and picked up the blue sparkling, who also stopped crying as soon as it was picked up. This one was a boy too. "I'm afraid if I am to get your siblings back as well, I'll need to find someplace to keep you two…"

He walked off in a fast pace, well-knowing the Autobots were aware of his presence here and that he was near Bumblebee's location. He had figured out they were trying to set up a trap for him, but the hunters had just become prey. If they thought they could taunt him with a game of hide and seek with his sparklings and himself as prizes, they were in for a plot twist. Starscream was done playing the weak Decepticon. He was going to show up the Autobots, because his sparklings depended on it.

He found a burrow near a bunch of trees and placed the sparklings into it. Afterwards he ripped a bush out of the ground and sealed the hole with it. The sparklings were whimpering weakly, reminding him surprisingly a lot of those bear cubs he had encountered so many months ago.

"Don't worry, my precious little things," he hushed at them. "I will return to you soon enough. Be patient."

The sparklings seemed to have heard him, because they settled down and kept quiet shortly after. Feeling a bit uneasy about leaving them there, the Seeker went off to one of the stronger signals, the one with the red and green lights. If the rest of the guardians were as easy to take down as the youngsters, then he would have reclaimed the rest of his sparklings within mere cycles.

* * *

" _Bumblebee's down too,_ " Ultra Magnus informed over the comm. " _I'm taking him back to the base as well._ "

" _Affirmative,_ " Optimus replied. " _Bulkhead, are you still with us?_ "

"Yes, sir," Bulkhead replied quietly. "Screamer may have taken down Smoke and Bee, but he won't take _me_ down so eas—"

He silenced. Right in front of him, merely ten meters away, stood Starscream, unbeknownst to the Wrecker's presence. It seemed his green armor did provide enough camouflage for him among the trees after all…

" _Bulkhead, what's wrong?_ " Optimus asked through the comm. The Wrecker had forgotten it was still on. He was about to answer, but suddenly one of the sparklings let out a squeal. He quickly covered its mouth, but it was too late; Starscream looked in his direction, his red optics focusing hard to distinguish the trees from whatever had made the sound. Bulkhead stood completely still, knowing he had been spotted.

"Convert to my position," he whispered through the comm. as Starscream began running towards the trees. "I'm engaging him in battle!"

" _Bulkhead_ —" The Wrecker turned the comm. off without hearing the rest of Optimus' words. He dropped the sparklings by the tree roots and jumped out from his hiding place. Starscream stopped in his tracks and glared at the Wrecker with nothing but anger.

"Where are they?" the Seeker demanded. "Where are my sparklings?"

"Safe from you, that's where," Bulkhead replied with sass. "Now we don't have to fight, Scream. Just surrender and—"

Starscream responded by swiping his claws across Bulkhead's chest. It left four deep, but not leaking, wounds in the armor. "Surrender? Why should I surrender? You heard what I did to your little buddies, didn't you? I'm going to scrap all of you, just like I scrapped your puny scout, worthless recruit, and especially that little red bug Cliffjumper."

The mention of his deceased comrade drove Bulkhead into a blind rage, and the Wrecker turned his servo into a wrecking ball. Starscream realized too late the mistake he had made, and Bulkhead swung his wrecking ball hard at him, flinging him against a nearby tree. Before the Seeker could recover, Bulkhead repeatedly punched him until loud crunching noises were heard from beneath the huge wrecking ball. Realizing what he was doing, Bulkhead quickly removed the ball, but it was too late; the Seeker had been completely crushed, energon splattered all over his cracked body.

Bulkhead's servo returned to normal state, and he looked horrid at what he had done. "No…not this again…"

Optimus showed up less than a cycle later with Ultra Magnus right behind him.

"Soldier – what have you done?!" Ultra Magnus exclaimed as they saw the crushed and lifeless Starscream at the tree.

"I…I…" Bulkhead looked at his stained servos with huge optics, not knowing what to say. "I didn't mean to…I was just…"

He picked up the Seeker's lifeless husk by the left arm; it was barely attached to the rest of the body. The body and limbs just dangled in the air, the head facing downwards, optics wide open and blacked out. No energon was leaking from the wounds, only the blue stains from the beatings remained on the armor.

"Scream, wake up," Bulkhead tried, poking the shattered chestplate. "Please don't be dead…" The Seeker gave no reaction.

"Bulkhead," Optimus said with a deep, unusually ominous voice. Bulkhead looked at him with fright. "What you did was a terrible mistake. I never thought you would go that far, when we were all clear on this plan. Why did you do it?"

"I…I don't know, sir," Bulkhead said devastated. "I just…lost my head…"

Optimus looked from the lifeless Starscream to the sparklings in his own servos. They had begun crying again, almost as if they knew their parent was dead.


	27. Chapter 25

CHAPTER 25

* * *

Optimus could not believe what he had just witnessed. He had only seen the scene in its last few seconds before arriving, but it was enough to know that Bulkhead had defied orders and started attacking Starscream with brute force. Unfortunately, the Seeker had not been so lucky this time; Prime and Ultra Magnus were too late when they arrived, for by then he had already been brutally crushed to death.

As soon as Bulkhead had killed the Decepticon, the sparklings had begun screaming right away; even though they had not opened their eyes yet, and it was doubtful they understood anything they heard yet, it was as if they could somehow _feel_ their parent's death. Perhaps it was the so-called 'iron bond' that theoretically existed between parent and sparkling. Perhaps it was the same as a spark-bond, like the one that had existed between Skyquake and Dreadwing while the twins were still alive.

Optimus looked from the dead Seeker in Bulkhead's servo to the crying sparklings in his arms. They had little chances of survival now.

"These sparklings will starve unless we find a way to convince them to take regular energon now," he said gloomily. "Prepare to return to…"

A faint rattling sound cut Prime off from his words. They looked around at the trees to see what had made that sound.

"Did you hear that?" Bulkhead asked uncertain. The others nodded. The rattling noise returned, this time louder than before - it sounded frighteningly familiar. The Wrecker felt a slight vibration in his right servo, the one holding Starscream. He looked at the crushed Seeker and felt his spark skip a beat. The wounds had started to leak again, and the optics were wide open, now glowing a purple color, focused on the Wrecker.

" _Take…thisss…_ "

The missile on the Seeker's right arm went off, and the following explosion sent all four mechs flying off in different directions; the Autobots each slammed into a tree while Starscream fell onto the ground. The demolished Seeker rose shakily to his legs, taking a blurry look at the Autobots as they tried to sit up; the sparklings in Prime's arms had been startled by the blast, but they seemed to be unharmed.

While the Autobots were recovering from the explosion, Starscream limped over by the trees Bulkhead had hidden himself among before. He looked down and found the two sparklings with the red and green sparks. He picked them up with his right servo under groans of pain and ran off with them as the Autobots got back on their legs.

" _Don't let him get away!_ " Ultra Magnus shouted, and the Seeker realized they were running after him.

" _How in the AllSpark is he still alive?_ " Bulkhead exclaimed.

" _I do not know,_ " Optimus replied, " _but it is a pure miracle that he did!_ "

 _What are they talking about?_ Starscream thought confused. _I mean, I feel wrecked and everything, but not downright for the scrap yard…_

" _What if he tries to attack us?_ " Bulkhead asked concerned.

" _He will not attack as long as we still have these two sparklings,_ " Optimus assured him.

 _Oh yeah?_ Starscream thought daringly. _You clearly don't know of Decepticon recklessness..._ He knew this was a bad idea, but if the sparklings survived the explosion before, they were much tougher than they looked. For a brief moment, he turned around and aimed his left arm at the Autobots, clenched his fist and fired the missile after them. The explosion sounded, and he used the distraction to jump between some trees and kneeled down to hide among the bushes, wings lowered so they wouldn't give him away. He held his sparklings close to his chest to keep them quiet, while remaining completely still himself.

He saw the Autobots running out right in front of where he was. They looked around for him, but couldn't seem to spot him anywhere.

"Well _that_ was unexpected," Bulkhead said. "Seems he really doesn't care about the sparklings' safety after all!"

"He must be somewhere nearby," Ultra Magnus said certain. "He can't have gone that far in his current state."

"Split up and keep your optics open," Optimus ordered. As the Prime passed him, Starscream saw to his relief that the sparklings were still safe and sound.

He felt a strange sensation at his chest and looked down; the sparklings were licking the energon leaking from his wounds. He felt a little uncomfortable about it, but there was something else that bothered him even more.

According to the Autobots, he had been in a state that looked like death. Yet now he was alive, mobile and capable of running, albeit rather painful. He remembered how severely the pain had been when Bulkhead had smashed him with his wrecking ball, and how much it hurt when he woke up again. Yet that pain felt so minor now that it had become irrelevant. Why?

What was happening to him…?

* * *

After making sure the Autobots were out of hearing range, Starscream left his hiding place and went toward the burrow, where he had hidden the other two sparklings. He had just arrived when he heard a faint scream coming from the burrow. He stiffened and put down the sparklings he was holding, rushing over and ripped the bush off the hole. A badger had bitten onto the pink sparkling's leg, and this one was screaming in fear and probably also in pain.

"You pesky rat!" he exclaimed and furiously grabbed the badger and threw it on the ground outside. His claws had pierced right through its skin, and it twisted and turned on the ground in pain. He kicked it angrily towards the trees and let it bleed to death, turning his attention back to the two sparklings in the burrow.

"Are you okay?" he asked the pink one concerned and picked it up with his clean servo. He was still whimpering, but having his parent there to save him seemed to have calmed him down. His leg had gained some blue dents, but fortunately it wasn't leaking. He heaved a sigh of relief and picked up the blue sparkling as well, returning to the red and green ones. He held the blue and pink sparklings in his right servo, while holding the red and green sparklings in his left servo. He looked into the forest with speculation.

"How do I get the last two?" he asked himself. "They're still with Prime. They must be so scared…"

He heard a rustling and looked to his left. Bulkhead barged through and stiffened as he spotted the Seeker with four sparklings in his arms.

"Starscream!" he exclaimed, and Starscream took it as a cue to run. He stormed off at full speed in a random direction with Bulkhead right behind him, keeping as tight a grip on his sparklings as he possibly could, desperately trying to think of a way out of the forest.

 _Please let there be a glade, please let there be a glade, please let there be a glade…_ he thought anxiously.

"Scream! Slow down!" Bulkhead yelled right behind him. "I'm not gonna hurt you again, I swear!"

"YEAH RIGHT!" Starscream screamed back. "I'M NOT FALLING FOR THAT, AUTOBOT!"

By the sight of something red and blue in front of him, he stopped in his tracks and ran to the left. He let out a scream as he saw Ultra Magnus barge out from the trees in front of him, but as he was about to run back, he realized he was surrounded: Bulkhead, Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus had cut off his exits from three different directions, rendering him unable to escape in either direction without getting caught.

"Starscream," Optimus said calmly, holding the remaining two sparklings in his left servo and held out the other arm stretched against the Seeker. "Surrender and we shall not harm you anymore."

"Lies," he hissed with lowered wings, looking anxiously from side to side, trying to find a way out, while the three Autobots walked slowly closer to him. "You won't hold back one second to terminate me, I know it!"

"I made a mistake before," Bulkhead admitted. "But I'm not gonna make it again."

" _Mistake?_ Yeah right! I never did trust the Wreckers," the Seeker spat at him, holding his sparklings closer, as if trying to hide them. "You lunatics love to destroy, don't you?"

"Says _you_ ," Bulkhead replied. "When do you _not_ like destroying stuff?"

"I've changed," he said desperately as the Autobots were mere meters from him. "I'm not the weakling you knew before. I'm competent! I _matter_! And…if you ever try to kill me again, I can assure you people will get you for it!"

"What 'people'? Decepticons?"

Starscream looked up and noticed he had been standing in a glade all along. He smiled, and his wings went up again. "You'd love to know that, wouldn't you?"

In a swift movement, he changed to plane mode in a horizontal angle and pulled the four sparklings inside his cockpit. Before any of the Autobots could catch him, he activated his thrusters and set off from the ground, zooming into the sky, escaping the forest.

"No…" Optimus said, while the sparklings he was holding were whimpering in distress.

"We were so close," Bulkhead said despairingly. "We almost had him, but instead we lost _four_ of the sparklings!"

"I should have jumped him when I had the chance," Magnus said in self-anger.

"Autobots," Optimus began, and they paid attention to him. "Prepare to return to base."

"What?" Bulkhead exclaimed in disbelief. "But—"

"Starscream will not likely return here soon, as he knows it was a trap and that he cannot possibly take down all of us. He will likely wait for a better opportunity to get these last two sparklings in his possession. For now, let us return and think of a new plan."

* * *

Starscream felt a bit more chilly and sore than usual when he soared through the sky, probably because of his still-open wounds, but otherwise it was an okay flight. Except for the bloated feeling he got from the filled cockpit that was barely roomy enough for the four sparklings to fit inside. They didn't seem to mind the limited space though – it almost seemed like they were back home.

He didn't dare stray too far from the forest, as his two last sparklings were still with the Autobots, but he would not be able to rescue them while keeping an eye on four others. So he scouted the nearby mountains and found one with a small cave near the peak. He transformed and caught the sparklings in midair. He investigated the cave; it wasn't very deep, and this time there were no animals waiting to attack his offspring. He put down each of them on the floor inside and then wondered how to prevent them from leaving and falling off the mountain. He peeked outside and found a convenient boulder near the opening. He went outside and put in all his strength to push the boulder in front of the cave mouth – it was really hard, but he had tried holding up a heavier rock than this one, and compared to the collapsing ceiling of an energon mine, this boulder was light as a feather.

It did take a little over a cycle before he sealed the hole though, after making sure none of the sparklings had decided to crawl out and get in the way; he didn't want to accidentally squash one of his young.

After making sure the sparklings were safe, he transformed and took off again, now having forgotten about his wounds, the only thought occupying his mind being the rescue of his final two sparklings.

He arrived in the forest and strolled around, keeping his optics and audio receptors wide open. He wasn't as careful this time, getting tired of sneaking around all the time. He felt in his spark that the remaining sparklings were distressed somehow, as if it was really important for him to get to them as soon as possible. Though honestly, he just wanted to get the sparklings so he could get back to the Nemesis to get some rest, maybe in the lab so Knock Out could fix his wounds and check if the sparklings were healthy. So he just stepped out in the middle of the grass, took a deep breath and shouted loudly at the forest.

" _Come and get me, Autobots! I'm right here! Come out so we can play tag – my claws in your spark chambers! If you give my sparklings back first though, I promise I won't hurt you…much!_ "

He waited for a few cycles, listening, watching. There was no sound of heavy footsteps, no sight of any red or blue painting, no screams of desperate sparklings, nothing. No one even answered his call. The only thing happening was a flock of birds taking off. He tried again.

" _Helloooo?! I'm standing right here and waiting for you! Come and get me already!_ "

He waited for a few more cycles. Still nothing, although the birds had stopped chirping now, probably spooked by his yelling. A bush rustled nearby, and he looked at it with a fast-beating spark, readying his claws for combat. His excitement turned to disappointment when it turned out to be a rabbit jumping out from the bushes. It took one look at him and then ran off at full speed, disappearing as fast as it had appeared. He sighed of irritation.

"Hello?" he tried again weakly. "Anybody there? _Any_ one?"

A sudden thought went through his mind and he closed his optics to sense spark signatures. There were no signals in the forest anymore; only the four signals in the mountain he hid them in, and then the two others had gone to somewhere else, far, far away from where he was. He let out a moan of anger.

"Stupid," he snarled and hit himself on the head. "Of course they left when you did! Now I'll have to search for them all over again…"

A transmission beeped in through the comm. link, startling the Seeker.

" _Hey, Starscream, are you there?_ " It was Knock Out's voice. He sighed of relief.

"Yes, I'm here, Knock Out. What do you want?"

" _Really? I place you in sickbay and then you just wander off without telling me and now you—_ "

"What. Do. You. Want?"

" _Well, since you're asking so NICELY, I've been trying to reach you for megacycles, and now it finally got through. So, why exactly did you leave?_ "

Starscream began explaining to him how the mission in Scotland didn't go as planned, how he fell unconscious after the birth of his sparklings, how the Autobots had taken off with them and finally how he tracked down and retrieved four of them while two remained in the Autobots' care.

"…and then I returned here, but they're already gone. How am I supposed to get the other two back now?"

" _Hmm…actually, I think I have something that will help you with that…_ "

* * *

Back at the Autobot base, Optimus, Magnus and Bulkhead told everyone else about their failed mission. Arcee and Wheeljack had just returned from a successful mission with a Predacon spine, the first bone so far to avoid falling into Decepticon hands. Their triumph got quickly overshadowed by Prime's failed mission though. He blamed himself for everything that happened, including Bulkhead's apparent termination of the Seeker.

"It's not your fault, sir," Ultra Magnus assured him. "We were all taken by surprise."

"I underestimated Starscream's determination," Prime said gloomily. "He seems to be far more dangerous as a parent than as a soldier."

"So all he needed to go from pathetic weakling to sneaky glitch was to get knocked up," Wheeljack concluded and added, by seeing their faces: "You live among humans, you pick up a few phrasings, right?"

"Right…" Ratchet said and turned back to Optimus with a curious look. "But what was that you said about Bulkhead crushing him?"

"Well," Bulkhead answered instead. "I _had_ pounded him thoroughly, and he looked pretty dead…but then suddenly he just…"

"He came back to life," Optimus said. "And his eyes turned purple. Almost as if he was in possession of dark energon…"

"But the energon he was bleeding?" Ratchet said intrigued. "It wasn't purple, was it?"

"No, it was blue," Bulkhead said. "I don't understand…"

"So you're saying," Raf said, "that Starscream might possess dark energon, but he isn't?"

"Well, that doesn't make sense," Miko said. "How can someone have something, yet _not_ have it?"

" **Hey, remember when he tried to raise Skyquake from his grave?** " Bumblebee went in from the med bay. He and Smokescreen had been badly damaged, but luckily both were still alive.

They thought about it. "Yes, he _had_ been in possession of a crystal back then," Optimus said.

"But he took it out again, didn't he?" Bulkhead said. "I'm sure I saw him taking it out, right after you shot off his arm…"

The sparklings began crying loudly on the table. They forgot about their conversation and looked concerned at the sparklings instead. Perhaps they were hungry again, even though it had only been a few megacycles since they fed. This time, though, there was nothing to feed them with. Unless Starscream turned up soon, these sparklings were probably going to starve.

"What do we do now?" Smokescreen asked from his recharging table. "Scream is probably long gone by now, and he might still be able to track these two here."

"While that might be correct, I do not think he would try getting the remaining two while looking after the other four," Optimus theorized. "I believe he is currently either bringing the ones he has back to the warship or trying to find another place to keep them until he gets the last two. Hopefully it will provide us with enough time to—"

He was interrupted by the monitor beeping as a transmission came through. They stared at it in speculation. Who could be contacting them at this time and place? Ratchet went over to check it.

"It's an imbedded message," he concluded. "From Starscream."

"What?"

"How dare he contact us!"

"What is this about?"

"Hold on, I'll read the message," Ratchet said and opened the message written in Decepticon Regular:

" _You have something that belongs to me, and I have something that belongs to you. If you ever want to see your pets again, come to my location and bring the sparklings. Do not try anything funny, or I cannot promise their safety._ "

"He's proposing a trade," Wheeljack concluded. "But with what?"

"'If you want to see your pets'…" Raf repeated ominously. "Could he mean us?"

"But we're right here," Miko said. "And there aren't any other humans who are close to the 'Bots!"

"Except…" Jack gasped. "Mom and Agent Fowler!"

* * *

Starscream stood on a cliff in the well-known canyon where the former Autobot base used to be, with Knock Out by his side. He was holding the human called June Darby in his servo, while the doctor was holding Agent Fowler from the human military.

"Are you certain this plan is going to work?" he asked skeptically. "These aren't exactly those kids."

"They're Autobots, they would do anything to save a pair of meaningless lives, no matter if they're friends or strangers," Knock Out pointed out and pat the Seeker on the back. "Don't you worry, Screamy, your sparklings will soon be safe and secure!"

"The more you tell me that, the less secure I become," Starscream grumbled. "Wait a second, how did you convince Soundwave to bridge you here? And with those hostages for that matter?"

"Oh, that," Knock Out said, sounding a bit nervous. "Well, you know, I just told him I…had been sent by Lord Megatron to take care of a, um…negotiation problem."

"You _WHAT_?!" Starscream shouted. "Do you have _any_ idea what you have done?"

"I…kept your secret?"

" _Far from it!_ Soundwave will report this to Megatron immediately, and then we'll both be scrap!"

"Ex _cuse_ me, but isn't this _your_ problem? _I'm_ not the one who kept those things inside me for Primus-knows how long."

"Well, _you're_ the one who _found_ the problem in the _first place!_ This is just as much _your_ problem as it is _mine!_ "

"Fine! See if I'll help you raising those misfits!"

"Don't you dare talk of my sparklings that way!"

"How long do you think _they've_ been dating?" Agent Fowler asked June, not being able to help but listening to their argument.

"Not sure, but _they_ certainly bicker like an old married couple," she replied with a crooked smile.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Starscream exclaimed agitated.

"N-nothing!" Knock Out said and growled at the humans. "Keep your fleshy mouths shut or that'll be the last thing you say!"

A GroundBridge appeared in front of them, and the two sleek mechs snapped out of the argument and stood straight as if nothing had ever happened. A few nano-cycles later, Optimus, Arcee and Wheeljack stepped out from the portal, followed closely by Jack Darby.

"Jack!" June exclaimed shocked.

"Mom!" Jack replied in fright.

"Don't worry, Jack," Arcee said with a firm voice. "She's going to be fine. They're both going to be fine."

"Yeah, we won't let anything happen to two of our comrades," Wheeljack replied.

"Good, you're here," Starscream said. "Now give them to me."

Though there were about ten meters distance between them, Optimus noticed his optics had returned to their normal red coloration, and his wounds were less extreme, though his chest, limbs and face were still scarred and leaking. Arcee held the purple sparkling in her servos while Wheeljack held the yellow sparkling.

"First we want you to release the humans," Optimus demanded.

"If I do that, you'll just leave with them _and_ the sparklings," Starscream pointed out. "The sparklings first!"

"You'll just throw the humans off the cliff or something," Wheeljack accused.

"Don't give them any ideas," Arcee hissed at him.

"How about one human, one sparkling at a time?" Knock Out suggested. "I'm getting tired of standing around here."

They silenced, considering their options. "The yellow one first," Starscream said. "Release him, and Knock Out will release the male."

Jack opened his mouth to protest, but Arcee signaled him to remain quiet. Wheeljack reluctantly walked over and handed over the yellow sparkling to Knock Out in exchange for Agent Fowler.

"Don't make me frag you," he threatened as he returned to the others.

"The purple one," Starscream said and pointed at Arcee. "Give her to me, and the boy will have his mother back."

" _Her_?" Jack wondered, but silenced as Arcee stepped forward, until she was so close to the Seeker that she could touch him.

Starscream looked longing at the sparkling in her servos, but reluctantly reached June forth, knowing that a mere second of change would be vital. He had to get the sparkling first. As Arcee slowly reached the sparkling out, they both made a quick movement, grabbed the other's hostage, retracted and jumped back quickly. Starscream looked down and saw to his satisfaction that he was holding the sparkling instead of the human. Arcee put down June so she could reunite with her son.

"No tricks," Optimus both assured and demanded. "You got what you wanted and we got what we wanted. Let us leave in peace."

Starscream smirked at him with deceit written all over his face. "I'd really wish I had an ambush waiting for you right now, but unfortunately it's just the two of us," he said disappointed. "Thank you for your cooperation, Autobots. Until next time."

Still watching the Decepticons, the Autobots and humans walked back into the GroundBridge, which closed seconds later. Starscream sighed of relief.

"Well then, it seems your plan worked after all, Knock Out," he said.

"Why thank you, Commander Starscream," Knock Out replied and handed over the other sparkling to the Seeker. "But now what are you going to do? You can't possibly be thinking of returning to the life of a rogue, are you?"

"Well, the thought did occur to me…" he admitted. "But I see now that it would be foolish. We'd be safer on Nemesis, regardless of Megatron's reaction. I suppose I'll just have to be ready for his wrath."

"It's not like you to be so…not-cowardly towards our leader. I must say, you _have_ changed."

"I'll have you know, doctor, that if Megatron or anyone else, including _you_ , tries to do anything to harm my sparklings, I will stop at nothing to exterminate them."

"Well, okay then," Knock Out replied decently. "But, er…where are the rest of the sparklings?"

"Right. Hold these for a moment, please," he said and gave the sparklings back to Knock Out. He transformed and took off, leaving Knock Out behind with two sparklings who now began crying loudly.

"Great. Now there's _more_ of him."

* * *

Starscream had already arrived at the mountain cave when he realized he had just left two of his valuable sparklings with Knock Out without a second thought. While pushing the boulder aside to release his other four sparklings, he wondered why he had done that.

"Well, I guess since he knew of my secret since I discovered it myself, I suppose it's only natural for me to trust him with them…besides, he's a doctor, he'd know better how to take care of these things than I do."

He remembered how in the past, the two of them could never get along, ranging from differences between vehicle modes to gaining favor from Megatron. All that seemed to have changed since the discovery of Starscream's sparklings. Knock Out had been incredibly helpful and nice at times, despite the Seeker not staying in sickbay all the time. He was, of course, still rude as usual, but he would never have been able to get as far as he had without him. He wondered how their relationship would have been if it had been _Knock Out_ who helped him with the birthing of the sparklings instead of the Autobots…

The boulder was finally gone from the cave, and the Seeker went in, picked up each sparkling and went outside again. They were a little cold, but their sparks were still twinkling. He switched to jet mode and let the sparklings curl up in a pile and regain heat from the warm cockpit. They purred loudly, partly from pleasantry, partly trying to tell their parent something. He didn't know what they wanted, but he would certainly find out as soon as he returned to the ship and had gotten himself fixed up.

He returned to Knock Out, transformed and held the four sparklings in his arms.

"Interesting," Knock Out remarked. "They have the same colored sparks as their wombs were…"

"Yes, yes, very interesting, now give the others to me and ask for a GroundBridge," Starscream said impatiently.

"Soundwave, I need a bridge back," Knock Out said through the comm. after giving Starscream the other two sparklings.

Mere nano-cycles later, a GroundBridge portal opened, and the two mechs stepped through it, returning to the Nemesis.

They arrived on the flight deck, met by Soundwave, Shockwave, the Predacon, several Vehicon troopers and Megatron himself. The warlord did not look pleased upon their return.

"Well, well, well," he said coldly, sending chills all the way through Starscream's body. "If it isn't Starscream. You've been missing for a while. I almost thought the Autobots had captured you. But enough of that, who are your new companions? _You should introduce them to me…_ "


	28. Chapter 26

CHAPTER 26

* * *

"I…uh…um…" Starscream wasn't exactly sure how to explain this. "I…found them…in uh…on the ship…?"

Megatron raised an eyebrow. "Last time I checked, we did not have any _sparklings_ on board."

"Keep going, you're doing great," Knock Out whispered sarcastically to him.

"Shush," the Seeker hissed back. He looked at Megatron and sighed. "My liege, they're…they're mine."

An odd expression showed on the warlord's face, but it was too brief for the Seeker to decipher it. "Really? And how long has this been going on?"

Starscream avoided eye contact, instead looking down at the sparklings in his arms. "Five…months…"

"And you've kept it a secret from me that long?"

"Yes. But it was only this last month that I actually _knew_ about—"

"Knock Out, how long have _you_ known about this?" Megatron interrupted, taking the doctor by surprise.

"I, uh…just this month as well, my liege," he said hesitantly. "But it's only been regular check-ups, nothing else!"

"Aha," Megatron said, his face turning alarmingly serious. "And does any of this have to do with our massive drop in energon stockings?"

Starscream was about to say no, but realized lying here would probably not benefit at all. He hesitantly replied, almost in a whisper: "…Yes."

Megatron stared at him in silence. Nobody dared say anything. The atmosphere was tense, and everyone was anxiously waiting for Megatron's next reply, reaction or action. After what felt like a megacycle, Megatron began walking towards Starscream and Knock Out. The doctor stepped aside, but the Seeker remained where he was, with a tight grip on his sparklings. As the warlord approached him with heavy steps, he lowered his wings in submission but refused to back off or let go of his sparklings.

Megatron stopped when he was a mere meter from the Seeker, almost touching his armor. He looked up at the tall warlord casting a shadow over him, shaking in fear, his faceplate sweating with lubricate. What was the warlord going to do? Kill the Seeker? Take his sparklings? Blast all of them?

He glared back at his master with a challenging gaze. _If you try to hurt my sparklings…I swear I'll KILL you…_ he thought bravely, but doubted if he would be able to actually do it.

They stared each other down, everyone waiting for one of them to make a move. Knock Out stared at the two with a mixture of anxiety and admiration for the Seeker standing his ground against their leader. The Vehicons watched with intense anxiety, almost equivalent to Knock Out's. Shockwave waited calmly to observe the scene's outcome, whilst calculating the logical options here. The Predacon rattled impatiently, probably wanting to play with its 'chew toy', but Shockwave prevented it from doing anything until Megatron gave orders. Soundwave was indifferent about the situation as well, though he did seem to look interested at the sparklings.

Suddenly one of the sparklings let out a rattling yawn, causing Megatron to glance at it, but Starscream continued to watch the large mech. As the warlord looked down at the sparkling, his optics seemed to narrow, and – could Starscream be seeing things? – an almost _scared_ look showed on his face. The reaction was brief, and Megatron soon snorted and shook his head. He turned around and walked back to the others, heading inside the ship.

"Get back to your posts," he snarled at the Vehicons, Shockwave and Soundwave, who all followed him inside. The Predacon remained on the flight deck where it fit, along with Knock Out, Starscream and the sparklings.

Knock Out walked over to the Seeker. "Okay…what was _that_ about? Starscream?"

Starscream stared at the closed door, from which Megatron had left. He was trying to figure out what just happened. Megatron had seemed ready to execute them all right away, but for some reason, he didn't. He wanted to be relieved, but the sight of Megatron's peculiar expression when gazing at the sparkling puzzled him.

He felt a strange yet faintly familiar sensation on his chest and looked back down at the sparklings. They were once again licking the leaking energon off his chest, just like in the forest. It kind of tickled, and it made him uneasy.

The Predacon growled, snapping the mechs out of their thoughts, as if telling them to 'get out of my sight'.

"Maybe we should take this inside," Knock Out said and went for the door. "Let's get you to sickbay, big guy."

He wanted to reply with a snarky comment, but he was too tired and drained of energon to care, so he simply followed the doctor in silence, trying to ignore the stares of Vehicons they passed by. As they arrived in the lab, Knock Out took the sparklings from a reluctant Starscream and put them on a clean table to examine them. When the sparklings were taken from their parent, they started whimpering, threatening to wail, but Starscream had to be stitched up. Starscream felt terrible about being seperated from his sparklings and wanted Knock Out to get it done as quickly as possible.

"Relax, I'll have you patched up in no time," the doctor said annoyed as he began sealing his wounds, buffing his armor and attaching cables to give him energon supplement. While waiting for the energon to fill the Seeker up, Knock Out went over to check on the sparklings.

"Alright, lay still, you little whiners," he snarled while attaching cables to the sparklings as well, connected to a device reading their status meters and vital signs. "Mobility, normal." He poked each of them lightly with a claw, and they either kicked or swiped against it, while squealing. "Reaction, good. Vocal receptors...no comment needed. They seem stabile in general. Though their energon readings are kind of low..."

"What?" Starscream exclaimed. "They're running out of energon? But we don't have much energon left! Are they going to die?"

Knock Out waved a hand. "Don't worry, there's still enough energon to get _Lord_ _Megatron_ back on his legs...you know, if he ever gets wounded. There's plenty energon for the little ones."

He went and got an energon cube and put some hoses in it, giving a hose to each sparkling. But like the Autobots, they quickly found out the sparklings were fussy little mechanoids. They spat out the energon and threw their hoses away, followed by loud wailing.

Knock Out scratched his head in confusion. "Uhh, okay...so, what do we do now? They won't take the energon and they're too small for drip, so that's not a good sign..."

"Oh for Primus' sake, give them to me already!" Starscream hissed impatiently from the operation table. "They want me, I can feel it, so just give them back to me."

"Fine, fine," Knock Out said and removed the cables from the sparklings, picked them up and went over to the Seeker with them. Starscream eagerly accepted the little forms and gazed at them with a warm look in his eyes. The sparklings stopped wailing as well and started purring instead, knowing they were now safe in their carrier's embrace.

"See? They calmed right down," Starscream said and looked triumphant at Knock Out. Suddenly, though, he felt a sting in his chest and let out an exclamation. He looked down and saw one of the sparklings had bitten onto one of the two light blue pouches on his chest, which had both inflated, he now noticed, and slightly glowing. They seemed to be filled with energon.

"Hey, what are you doing? Eep!" he exclaimed as the rest of the sparklings followed their sibling's action and bit onto the 'energon pouches'. They purred loudly while sucking the warm energon in them. Starscream felt a bit uncomfortable about the touch, but at the same time he felt relaxed, and kind of good after all. It was an indescribable feeling, both transboundary and pleasant, and he didn't feel like ending it. He just lay back and let the sparklings suckle.

Knock Out watched interested at the scene. "Huh, well whaddya know? Hatchlings will take any energon when they're born, but apparently sparklings only take energon from their host. I guess that means if we really want these kids to survive, we need to keep you with a steady enegon supply."

Steady energon supply. He liked the sound of that. Though he was barely listening to what the doctor was saying. He just lay and felt the sensation of the sparklings' toothless mouths keeping a tight hold on the pouches to make them leak, using their small tongues to suck the energon in them. It tickled every time they took a lick. It was weird, but good weird.

* * *

"How are you doing, Bee?" Raf asked his partner on the operating table.

" **I'm fine, Raf,** " Bee replied. " **It takes more than Starscream to take _me_ down!** "

"That's right! You're the coolest 'Bot I know!"

"Hey," Smokescreen said, somewhat offended. "I'm pretty cool too, y'know."

"Uh, sure Smokescreen, you're cool too."

"I don't feel so convinced by your tone," Smokescreen pouted. "I took Scream's claws too..."

"Let it go, Smoke," Bulkhead said. "Me and Jackie's gonna teach you how to be a Wrecker, _then_ you'll be _cool_!"

"Really?" Smokescreen said delighted and sat up. "Alright! Let's get on with it!"

"Ehep, hep, hep," Ratchet said and pushed the young Autobot back on the table. "Not until I approve of your condition, you're not!"

"Aww," Smokescreen said disappointed and laid back down. "But now I'm all pumped up for it..."

Meanwhile, the rest of the team were still brooding over their failed mission.

"So what do we do now, Optimus?" Bulkhead asked. "Do we find the sparklings and take them back from the 'Cons?"

"No," Optimus said. "We will leave them be for now. As long as they are dependant on Starscream for energon, our hands are tied. Once they are old enough to take other kinds of energon, we will attempt another rescue. Until then, we must have faith in Starscream to keep them safe."

"You're asking a lot from us, telling us to have faith in _Scream_ ," Arcee replied. "He's not exactly the most faithful character."

"Optimus is right, Arcee," Ratchet said. "Right now, they're safer with the Decepticons than they are with us, however hard that may be to imagine."

"But I promise you," Prime said, "that we will save those sparklings from Megatron's tyranny, _before_ he can turn them into Decepticons, or worse..."

"Guys, can we talk about something else other than those sparklings?" Jack said. "The more you think about them, the worse it'll be."

The Autobots looked from the human to each other. "You're right, Jack," Arcee said warmly. "If there's nothing we can do about the sparklings, we'd better focus on those Predacon bones instead."

"Agreed," Optimus said, relieved by the change of subject. "Are there any new signs of Predacon fossils?"

Ratchet checked the radar monitor. "No, but I've caught a signal somewhere in the atmosphere. It seems to be heading toward Earth."

"Probably just a meteor or satellite," Agent Fowler remarked, having exited his office after getting a cup of coffee over the day's episode. "They tend to cross our radar-"

"Wait, the signal's getting stronger," Ratchet interrupted. "Very strong. It seems..."

The monitor suddenly started flickering, as if something was interfering with the radar. Several Autobots turned their heads to the malfunctioning machine.

"Something's not right here..." Ratchet fidgeted with the controls to try and figure out what the problem was. "I'll switch to camera function."

The radar switched to a video screen, showing a bright light in the sky. He zoomed in on it, until the image showed a flaming unidentified flying object. Because of the flames, it looked like a comet, but what was inside the flames was anything but round - it was more triangular, like a ship.

"These readings..." Ratchet said stunned. "It's Cybertronian."

This caught every Autobot and human's attention. "An Autobot?" Miko said hopefully.

"Another 'Con?" Arcee said suspiciously.

Ratchet gazed at it for a while before answering: "Neither. Whoever this newcomer is, he's neither Autobot nor Decepticon."

They looked at each other in bewilderment, especially the humans.

"What does that mean?" Raf asked. "Is...is it another Predacon?"

"Unlikely," Optimus said. "This one is in vehicle mode, a sort of plane. And Predacons seem to be too large to fit inside a transport ship like the Iron Will."

"So...what are we dealing with here?" Smokescreen asked ominously.

Optimus looked gloomily at the video, which had also begun flickering, even worse than the radar.

"It hurts me to say...I do not know."

* * *

Starscream felt the sparklings one by one let go of the energon pouches and concluded that they were finished feasting. He let them slide down by his side and checked his chest. It was stained with energon, but for some reason the pouches were not breached; they had closed on their own, after the sparklings let go. He felt on one. It was as hard and solid as ever, though much thinner than usual. How could a sparkling without teeth squeeze it so hard it felt like rubber? Not to mention making it leak, then closing it when finished...

Knock Out entered the lab, holding a single energon cube in his arms. Starscream sighed disappointed.

"That's it?" Starscream complained. "I don't get any more?"

"I'm afraid so," Knock Out replied. "His Lordship has limited you to one energon cube per day."

The Seeker gasped. "Only _one_? Per _day_?! I need at least _three_ per day with these gluttons!"

Knock Out held out the cube in front of him. "It's as far as he'll go. Take it or leave it."

"Alright, I'll take it!" Starscream grabbed the cube from the doctor and guzzled down its content in ten nano-cycles. He sighed of relief, getting to feast too, but not enough. He felt another strange sensation and looked down, observing as his thin energon pouches began expanding a little, to about twice their size, though still half the size before the sparklings had feasted.

Knock Out saw it too and gave a crooked smile. "Hmm. Interesting. Getting _pumped_?"

"Very funny," the Seeker said annoyed. "I still need two more energon cubes though."

"Like I said, Megatron only allows you one per day from the storage. An unusually generous gesture, actually, as most of us only get two or three per _week_. He's really taking your sparklings into account."

"Not enough," the Seeker said and sat up, carefully laying the sparklings on the warm table, taking his cables off.

"Hey, what are you doing? I haven't relieved you yet!"

Starscream walked past the doctor while wiping his stained chest with his servo. "I'm going out."

"What? No you're not, you're not leaving me here with _them_!" the doctor said and pointed at the now sleeping sparklings, apparently unaware that their parent had left them.

Starscream looked at Knock Out with a serious, and irritated look on his face.

"If _Lord Megatron_ won't give me more than one cube per day, I'll just have to go get more by myself!"


	29. Chapter 27

CHAPTER 27

* * *

"'Ey, boss, I found Subject 6!" the sleek purple mech reported. "Pretty bad shape, though not as bad as the others, huh?"

"Smart observation, _genius_ ," the even sleeker purple femmebot replied sarcastically. "You should get a medal."

"I _should_ , shouldn't I? Wait, was that meant as an insult?"

"No, of _course_ not. Just hand over the subject so I can examine it."

"Here ya go. Can I go now?"

"Not yet." The femmebot wrote something down on a pad, as she examined her subject. "Subject: 6-S. Lifespan: 12 years. Cause of death: energon exposure. Condition: battered, but whole. Expectations: promising." As she finished writing, she looked back at her assistant. " _Now_ you can go. Make sure to keep an eye out for Subject 1-R. It's the only one left to expire."

"Aye-aye, sir! Er, I mean, _ma'am_!"

* * *

Starscream went through the hallways past passing Vehicons and Insecticons, heading to the flight deck. On his way, he met several of his Seeker troops and decided to take them along.

"You, we're heading off to find energon!" he said every time he passed one of the silver fliers. As he reached the flight deck, he had gathered six of them and decided it was enough. The Predacon snarled at him as they passed it, and, in an attempt to show his superiority, he simply snarled back at it, which prompted it to roar at him. He decided to leave it be and ordered his troops to follow him. They transformed and flew off the ship. It had become night, and the sky was filled with twinkling stars and a bright full moon.

"One day, I will get back at Shockwave for bringing that beast onto the ship!" he grumbled out loud. "It's not safe for the sparklings that there's a giant monster that could easily swallow them whole!" He dreaded the thought. "And I just left them behind on the ship with that monster! I should go back to them right?"

The Vehicons didn't answer him right away, mostly because they weren't sure if they should tell their _commander_ what to do. One of them hesitantly replied:

"Uh, well, don't you think it's smarter to get energon first? ...Sir?"

Starscream didn't answer. He had caught the scent of something. He wasn't sure how, his olfactory sensors had never really been anything special. But for some reason, he could now clearly smell the familiar scent of _...energon_!

"This way, my armada!" he ordered, followed by a dive down to a valley with grass, flowers, spiky rocks and dozens of tree stumps. There didn't seem to be any energon around though. For some reason, Starscream felt like he had been here before, but couldn't quite put his finger on why.

"Search the area," he ordered. "There's energon somewhere around here, I can _feel_ it!"

The Vehicons didn't ask why; they weren't programmed to ask questions like a normal bot. They just followed the Air Commander's orders and examined every rock, stump and the crater for any sign of a blue crystal. They regrouped ten cycles later.

"No sign of energon, sir," one Vehicon reported.

"This place is empty, sir," another Vehicon said.

"Impossible," Starscream muttered. "I can _feel_ there's energon here, can't _you_?" The Vehicons shook their heads. The Seeker snorted. "Incompetent morons. Do I have to do _everything_ myself?"

A screech sounded through the sky. The Decepticons looked up and saw a large metal bird, diving down towards them.

"What is that?" a Vehicon said.

"It looks Cybertronian," another said.

"What are you waiting for?" Starscream exclaimed. "Shoot it down!"

The Vehicons fired their blasters at the birdbot, but it avoided every laser without effort. It pecked at them several times when one laser finally hit it. It fell to the ground and lay still for a moment. However, as two Vehicons went over to check on it, it suddenly rose up and swiped them away with its wings. It set off into the sky again and hovered above them. It seemed to be contemplating something.

"Shoot it down! Shoot it down, for Primus' sake!" the Seeker shrieked.

The bird dove again, this time while spinning around like a drill, aiming for Starscream, currently standing in the crater. Whatever shots hit it just bounced off it, seemingly ineffective in this drill-like state. Starscream screamed and jumped out of the way, as did a few nearby Vehicons.

The bird drilled its way through the ground in the crater, and the Decepticons watched the hole it dug, preparing for it to return to the surface. The drilling sound continued for a few more nano-cycles, then it went quiet.

"Prepare to fire," Starscream said to the Vehicons, standing ready to attack.

The drilling sound returned, became louder, and the birdbot burst out from the ground, dirt and rocks flying everywhere. It spread its wings and hovered above ground, steadily flapping its wings to keep in the air.

"Fire!" Starscream said. "No, wait! Cancel!"

The Vehicons had been about to fire when the Seeker cancelled the order. They looked confused at each other, and at him. He spotted something in the creature's beak; a small shard of a blue energon crystal. It hadn't had it before, it must have acquired it from underground. But that wasn't why he stopped them. The way it held that crystal in its beak, it was awfully familiar...

"No way..." he said in disbelief. "Metalhawk?"

* * *

Somewhere on a beach, Nightbird stood and watched the stars and the full moon, both in the sky and their reflection in the sea. The sight was tranquil, and she felt a certain calmness over the night on Earth. She liked darkness better, where she could hide from her enemies, preparing sneak attacks on them. Despite her fondness of the night, though, she always felt uneasy about it, and was relieved every time she saw the sun rise again.

She wasn't really here for the view, though. She was waiting for a certain someone. Someone who could help her retrieve her prey.

"Where _is_ he?" she muttered impatiently. "I gave my signal to him, he should know where I am. Come on..."

The stars were twinkling brightly, the moon brighter and giving light to the ground below. Suddenly, one of the stars began _moving_. She spotted it and zoomed in on it with her optical sensors. It was a blazing plane, yellow and orange, though it was hard to see since it was enveloped in red, orange and yellow flames as well. It was heading towards her.

"Finally. I thought you'd never show up," she said as the plane descended and transformed into a sleek mech, indeed being golden and orange with red stripes on the wings. His helm was black, his face white and his eyes golden. He had no insignia to clarify his allegiance. The flames surrounding him lit up the area they stood in. Nightbird knew very well not to touch him.

"I apologize, my dear miss," the newcomer said and bowed, taking no notice of the fire he was causing to the grass below him. "But it isn't exactly easy to track people down when you have an ability like mine. I must say, it was difficult even finding my way back to Cybertron, and the place looks like a _mess_! Whatever happened to our holy world?"

"I'll tell you about it later," she said and crossed her arms. "First, I want you to track down someone for me."

"I just told you, I can't track _anything_ down with these flames."

"It's Starscream."

The mech silenced and stared at her for a whole cycle before speaking again.

"Starscream...so he's still alive, huh?" he said lowly. "Well, if it's _him_ , then I suppose I can't say no, can I?"

"He's onboard the Nemesis, a large Decepticon ship. You won't be able to miss it."

"Okay, got it." He was about to fly away again when he looked back at her with an uncertain look. "Uh, one question."

"Yes?"

"What's a... _Decepticon_?"

* * *

"Metalhawk! Is that really you?"

Starscream couldn't believe his own optic sensors, so he carefully held out an arm to test his theory. The bird-bot flapped over to him and landed on his arm gracefully. It was quite heavy though, but he had invited it himself. The Vehicons pointed their blasters at it, but Starscream signaled them to lower their guns.

He held out a servo, to further test his theory. The bird dropped the energon shard into it and let out a shriek. That was proof enough.

"It _is_ you!" the Seeker exclaimed joyfully, ignoring the Vehicons. He looked from the shard to the large birdbot on his arm. Something seemed out of place, and it wasn't difficult knowing what. "But...but how? You were an _organic_ eagle, but now..."

The moon came out from behind a cloud, shining light upon the bird. Back in the past, the brown, white-headed and -tailed Metalhawk had been just big enough to rest on the back of his hand and could barely nip on his thumb. Now, the bird had grown to the size of the Seeker's torso, its own torso being golden, its legs and wings being blue, and the tail and helm being red. The head had a pair of spikes going up, looking a bit like ears or horns, probably its audio receptors. The face and beak were golden, and instead of optics it had a visor, which was glowing purple. It looked like a pure Cybertronian, as if never having been anything like an organic animal ever.

"By Primus, you're magnificent..." the Seeker whispered. Metalhawk purred on his friend's arm.

"Uh, sir?" one of the Vehicons said, breaking the moment.

"What?" Starscream said annoyed.

"The energon?"

"Oh! Oh, right. Soundwave," he said through the comm. "Send a squad of miners and a drill to my location. We've uncovered energon!"

Soundwave didn't say anything, but nonetheless, a GroundBridge appeared right in front of them, and five miner Vehicons followed by ten warrior Vehicons and a drill machine came through. They began digging, and while doing so, Starscream suddenly realized why this place seemed familiar.

It was the waterfall cove, the one he had once lived in. The crater was the remains of the lake, having now grown plants over time. It seems the place had recovered somehow. But now it was going to get dug up, to harvest the energon underground. Starscream was surprised there was any left; the explosion he had caused back then in an attempt to kill Megatron had been so large, that he had been certain every single piece of energon in the area had been vaporized. Perhaps there had been a layer of bedrock underground between one part of the energon deposit and another, protecting the lower deposit from the explosion. To think that he had stumbled upon such a large mine without knowing back then. The energon in the lake had been just the tip of the iceberg.

 _Now_ Megatron _had_ to give the Seeker some credit! He had acquired possibly the biggest mine on Earth for him, after all!

"You did good, Metalhawk," he said to the bird. "What do you say, want to join the Decepticons?"

Metalhawk screeched and set off into the air, doing a few loops and then hovering in the air, looking down at the Seeker. He took that as a yes.

* * *

The following week, the Decepticons spent their time digging out large amounts of energon from the cove, refining the crystals and storing them in cubes, then going back and do it again. This time Megatron had almost nothing bad to say to Starscream. He had found a motherload of energon, recruited another, albeit smaller beast, one which seemed capable of tracking down energon, thus ensuring their energon supplies were steady for a good while now. There was just one thing...

"We will keep the bird," he said. "Its ability to sense energon is clearly of great advantage to us."

"Uh, actually, my liege, _I_ was the one who _found_ the place..." Starscream tried, but Megatron interrupted him.

"But 'Metalhawk' here was the one who _located_ the energon," he pointed out. "You couldn't even _find_ it yourself."

Starscream pouted. The only reason Megatron mentioned that was probably because he couldn't find anything else to belittle him with.

"Regardless, you did well, Starscream," he said, making the Seeker pay attention. "Since we have acquired so much energon now, I have decided to allow you to take _two_ cubes every _second_ day. I cannot raise it any further, both because we still do not have enough energon, and because I do not _want_ to give you more. You must do better if you want more."

Starscream sighed, a bit disappointed over the slim raise. "I'll take it."

Over the course of the week, the sparklings started to open their optics and take a look around them. Their optics had the same color as each their respective sparks. One of them, the purple one, had crossed eyes, looking to different sides. It was uncertain whether her eyesight was affected by this or not.

After a week, they began trying to stand up and walk around. They were clumsy and unsteady at first, but once they learned how it worked, they were all over the place, crawling up their legs, furniture, machinery and ticking off every living thing on the ship, including the Insecticons and occasionally Megatron. During such times, Starscream had to race in and grab the youngsters, pulling them away with a nervous laughter to the 'victims', who didn't find their trouble-making all that amusing. Knock Out found it all _very_ amusing.

"Maybe you should prod them every time they pinch an Insecticon," the doctor suggested during a sickbay visit. "And shock them if they pinch Lord Megatron."

"Don't even _joke_ about THAT, you moron!" Starscream snarled while he was feeding the sparklings. "They could get seriously hurt if they tick off those blasted Insecticons again. Just imagine if they get on the flight deck and do the same to that _monster_! It would eat them whole, I tell you!"

"Oh relax, nobody here's sparkless enough to actually try to kill your sparklings. Maybe Megatron, but even he doesn't seem keen on doing so."

"I'm serious, Knock Out, I can't leave them alone anymore, not now that they are able to move around."

They were silent for a few cycles, while simply watching the suckling sparklings, listening to their purring. Knock Out had said they would have to live off his energon for at least another two months.

"By the way, Starscream, have you thought up any names yet? We can't expect them to cooperate anymore unless we can get them to listen individually. They'll need names."

"I know, I've been thinking about it too," the Seeker said. "I've only thought up four names so far. The one with the purple spark, I've decided to call her Cross-Eyes."

"Because of her crossed eyes?" Knock Out asked sarcastically.

"Well...yes. I can't think of anything else for her. Anyway, I've decided the one with the green spark is called Outrage. He's always throwing a tantrum when he doesn't get his will and always gets into a fight with the others."

"Fitting name, then. What else?"

"I'm calling the red one Flashlight. He's a fast runner, despite his young age, and since he has red energon for his innermost energon, he might end up having hyper-speed as well...maybe. And the blue one...owch!" One of the sparklings, namely the one with the blue spark, bit extra hard onto the energon pouch, causing pain to the Seeker who snarled at it to stop. It didn't seem to notice his outburst, but nonetheless settled down.

"...I'm calling him Rascal. I assume you can see why."

"Oh, not _at all_ ," the doctor said sarcastically. "Just because he constantly picks a fight with the Vehicons, Insecticons and even once Megatron, doesn't make him a troublemaker at _all_."

Starscream rolled his eyes, looking down at the two last sparklings, the yellow one and the pink one. "I don't know what to call the other two yet. For now, I'm calling them Pinky and Goldy until I come up with more fitting names."

"Oh, I don't know, Pinky and Goldy seem fine to me," he said with a smirk.

* * *

After they had returned to the Nemesis, Starscream discovered that Metalhawk got along surprisingly well with the Predacon. The beast didn't try to rip him to pieces, and the bird would sit on top of its head and chatter, as if they were talking to each other. Starscream had hard to imagine _anyone_ being able to have this kind of relationship with the Predacon, but, well, it takes a beast to understand a beast, he assumed.

After another week, Starscream could feel how the lack of energon made him irritable, though not lacking energy as he had thought. Two cubes every second day and one every day provided him with enough energy to keep going, but not enough to make him feel full by the end of the day. The energon wasn't the whole cause of his frustration, however.

Because of his sparklings' now constant torment of the other residents on the ship, he was too worried they might get hurt to set out for a flight, and not getting to use his wings left him stressed, as he had been in the past when his T-Cog was missing. This time it wasn't the lack of transformation, but the responsibility of six sparklings that kept him from the sky. He felt he couldn't just leave his sparklings behind to get trampled under the feet of a Vehicon, an Insecticon or even Megatron. He wanted to keep a constant eye on them, even while they were asleep, and every time he let one of them out of his sight, he was prone to panic, and with good reason. Because when let out of sight, they would _always_ , for some reason, ALWAYS tick off one of the big guys. He was about to get a spark attack every day.

But now, he had had enough.

"I NEED TO FLY!" he shouted all of a sudden one day, two weeks after the energon harvest. "I CAN'T STAND THIS ANYMORE!"

"Calm down, geez!" Knock Out hushed. "The little monsters are sleeping, do you really wanna wake 'em up? If you wanna fly so bad, just go outside and _fly_!"

"I can't," Starscream protested dramatically. "If I do, then who's going to look after the sparklings? Who's going to make sure they don't get themselves killed by the others onboard this ship?"

"Uh, what about me?"

The Seeker looked judgmental at the doctor. "And how do I know you're not going to lose them from your sight?"

"I promise I will keep a constant eye on them."

"Even when they're asleep?"

"Come on, Screamer, they're not gonna do anything while they're asleep."

The Seeker sighed. "Maybe you're right. But I still want you to keep a close eye on them."

"I will," the doctor repeated annoyed. "Just go already. You're not the only one who needs a break from your whining. I got this, okay? Go out and have fun."

Starscream hesitated. He was uncertain whether to entrust these precious little things that are ruining his life to a bot who didn't even help him deliver them. However, he was the most trustworthy of all these morons on the ship, so he decided to leave them in his care.

He entered the flight deck where as usual Metalhawk protruded on top of the Predacon's head. The bird screeched at him in greeting, but the Predacon simply growled grumpily at him. Starscream decided to ignore them both and took off in silence.

"Ahhh, freedom! Oh, it feels so good to fly again..."

While feeling the gentle breeze cooling his armor and the clouds washing away his worries (and energon stains from feeding times), he wondered what the Harbinger looked like now, after getting destroyed by the Vehicons and everything...

 _Wait, they never did destroy that place, did they?_ he thought to himself. True, while he did order the place destroyed, he retracted the order to fight back the invading Autobots at Darkmount. The Harbinger was still there...and maybe even the Autobots. Could they have dared making that ship their new hideout? Unlikely, as Starscream himself had shown them the way to the harbinger about six months ago. But what if they _were_ there? If Starscream managed to find the Autobots' _new_ base, surely the warlord would allow him even _more_ energon cubes every day...

"I'll risk it," he mumbled to himself. "If anything, I can get my log back. Surely by now the Heralds of Unicron must have received the message in there..."

And so he flew all the way to the cliff where the Harbinger was situated in. He transformed, landing by the rocks just outside the Decepticon ship, speculating whether to go in or not, just in case the Autobots were really there. Should he call for back-up?

"No, Megatron would just scold me again for leaving the Harbinger for the Autobots to use. And in case no one's there, I would look pretty stupid..."

"Phase 3: Fallen Star, complete."

Starscream let out a loud shriek which he was certain the Autobots, Decepticons or even Heralds of Unicron could hear, wherever they may be right now. He turned around to see exactly who he knew it would be; Creop Trivem. It felt like forever since their last meeting. However, before Starscream could even greet or scoff at him, Creop initiated his routine:

" _As the roar of the dragon will be heard,_

 _The Dark Lord shall re...re...the D-D-Dark L-Lord sh-shall..._ "

Starscream moped. This had never happened before.

" _Dark...the Darararark Lordordord shall rerererereretuuuuuuurrrrrnnnnnn..._ "

"Uh...you okay?" Starscream asked concerned as Creop's image began flickering, his voice seeming to malfunction. Something wasn't right.

" _The...the...the..._ **THE DAAARRRRK LORD SHALL RERERETUUURN!** "

Starscream was startled by Creop's sudden yelling, sounding almost like a scream, followed by an unusually flickering, sparkly disappearing, almost like an explosion.

Standing in silence, shocked over what had just happened, Starscream felt discouraged to check the Harbinger now. But he wanted to get back his log, so he pulled himself together and went in.

"That Creop...is a real _creep_."

He entered the Harbinger with his laser guns out, tiptoeing his way in, stopping for a moment to listen for any sounds, then moving on. As he entered the control room, he saw that no one was around. No Autobots, no humans, not even any equipment. The GroundBridge was gone, the tools and scooters were gone. He searched around in panic.

"No...they even took my tape recorder! They took my log!"

A squeaky noise sounded from behind and he turned startled around. No one was there.

"Come out! I know you're there! Just show yourself already!"

But instead of words, the noise-maker responded with more squeaks and purring. He froze. He turned his head and looked at his back. One of his sparklings was clinging onto his back like a koalabot. He could just barely make out the color of the sleepy sparkling's optics.

"Cross-Eyes?" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be back on the ship, watched by... _Knock Out_!" He snarled the last part.

"Hey, Screamer! You here?" a familiar voice sounded from the hallway. He froze.

"This is the tenth time we've checked, Rartorata," another familiar voice sounded. "He's not gonna be here."

"You don't know that, Drancron! I'm positive I heard a voice in there just now!"

"You always have little voices in your head," a third familiar voice sounded.

Starscream could see the shadows of the Blendtrons on the wall, and turned his back the opposite way, to hide his sparkling, preparing for what was coming next.

* * *

Knock Out searched desperately everywhere, under the tables, behind machines, on the ceiling, but nothing looked anything like an escaped sparkling.

"Oh scrap, oh scrap, oh scrap," he hissed as the other five sparklings had woken up from their nap and began running around, getting in his way. "Starscream's gonna _kill_ me when he gets back! How can I lose a sparkling _ten seconds_ after he left? He'll _never_ trust me with the sparklings again! Not that it would be a bad thing though," he added after tripping over a passing sparkling and falling to the floor, face first.

"Starscream!" Megatron snarled as he entered the medical room. He looked very displeased. "Knock Out, where is that lunatic?"

"Out for a flight," Knock Out replied absentminded. "Needed a break from the little ones."

Megatron growled. "I never told him he could take a _vacation_ when he wanted. He brought this on himself, so he must take the consequences as well. You tell him he better keep his little _pests_ under control from now on. I'm losing my patience with them."

"I'll do my best, my liege."

"Goldy", the sparkling with yellow eyes and spark, was being chased around by "Pinky", and ran over to Megatron, seeking cover behind his leg. Knock Out gasped as the sparkling grapped onto the warlord's leg.

Megatron looked down at the clingy sparkling who looked back at him with large glossy golden eyes and let out a cute little _squeak_ and smiled at him. Megatron looked astonished at the mechling, but the moment was brief; he soon shook the sparkling off his leg.

"Get off me, brat!" he snarled as the mechling came off. "I'm not your mommy."

"No, _he's_ out enjoying himself," Knock Out smirked.

Megatron cleared his throat, pretending that didn't happen. "Anyway, tell Starscream that—"

Suddenly the lights began flickering., distracting the two mechs. Even the sparklings stopped playing around, confused by the blinking lights.

"Probably just a light malfunction," Knock Out suggested, when suddenly the ship began rumbling as well, synchronized with the flickering lights. The sparklings began shrieking, like their "mommy" did.

"Something's not right," Megatron muttered and pinged the control center. "Status report!"

" _Lord Megatron, the Predacon is trying to get inside the ship!_ " a Vehicon responded.

"So?"

" _Well, and there seems to be something on its way here. It looks like an aircraft..._ "

"Is it Starscream?"

" _No sir, this one is much bigger...and_ _ **on fire**_ _!_ "

Megatron was curious. "I'll check it out." He ended the call and went for the flight deck. "We'll talk later," he added to Knock Out before going.

As Megatron reached the door for the flight deck, he could indeed hear loud scraping against the door, whimpering and thumping on the floor. He couldn't believe his audio receptors. Was that really the Predacon's noises?

He opened the door and stepped outside. He quickly stepped aside as the Predacon stormed past him, almost squeezing its way inside the ship, followed closely by Metalhawk, Starscream's new pet. Both seemed scared somehow. It was strange to see such a mighty beast, having brutally maimed Autobots and even Decepticons, ruling over not one but two worlds, terrorizing its dominant population...now crouched together, cowering like a...well, like _Starscream_. What could have spooked the mighty monster so much?

Megatron turned his attention away from the cowering Predacon and birdbot, slightly concerned over what may be coming. He focused his optic sensors to spot the tiny speck on the dawning sky. Indeed, it was a flaming object, and it was getting closer and closer...

As Megatron was about to raise his cannon to shoot the potential threat away, the burning jet transformed and landed gracefully on the flight deck. The mech before him was enveloped by orange flames, making it impossible to identify his colors and allegiance. The only thing he could tell was that he was a flier, similar in size and figure as Dreadwing, but the head looking more like a Seeker's. Megatron tried opening a comm., but it wouldn't work. He felt a strange energy radiating from this stranger.

"You must be Megatron, leader of these so-called Decepticons, right?" the stranger said, having a surprisingly light-toned voice for someone so sinister.

"I am," the warlord replied cautiously, unsure what to make of this mech. "And you are?"

The stranger presented a burning right servo, as if to shake hands with the warlord. "Yes, my apologies for not introducing myself first. I just had to be sure I had reached the right place. I am—"

" _ **GET AWAY FROM HIM!**_ " a thundering, yet shrieky voice screamed throughout the sky, catching the two mechs' attention. From the blinding light of the rising sun, Starscream came soaring in at full speed, transformed and placed himself between Megatron and the stranger.

"Step aside, sparkling," the stranger said mockingly to the Seeker. "I have a mission."

"Starscream, what is the meaning of this?" Megatron growled.

"Megatron, don't touch this guy," Starscream begged. "This is _Sunstorm the Saint_. If you touch him, you're _dead_."


	30. Chapter 28

CHAPTER 28

* * *

Two weeks after the Autobots lost the sparklings to the Decepticons, the former had tried to keep the little ones out of their processors, but it proved to be harder than assumed. Whenever there was a moment of silence, either after or without discussing the Predacon bones, someone would always break the ice by mentioning the sparklings.

"What if that Predacon tries to hurt the sparklings?" Bulkhead had asked concerned one day after the 'Bots speculated why no new fossils had been detected recently.

"While troubling indeed," Optimus replied calmly, "I do not believe that even Megatron would allow precious sparklings to be terminated by his own soldiers. He knows as well as all of us, that they are the future of Cybertron."

"Still... I just can't trust the Decepticons with the sparklings."

"Neither of us can," Arcee said. "But we don't really have a choice. Yet," she added quietly.

Such conversations were common the recent couple of weeks, followed by an awkward silence, as they were unsure of how to continue their conversation.

Two weeks after the forest incident, Smokescreen and Bumblebee had both recovered completely from Starscream's assault, and were back to training with their older comrades. As promised, Bulkhead and Wheeljack began training Smokescreen in Wrecker fighting. They had talked about training him since Bulkhead had recovered from Tox-En exposure, but had never really gotten around to do it. Hunting for the Omega Keys, assaulting Darkmount and searching for Predacon bones were all to blame for the delay. Now that things were finally a little peaceful, they might as well get on with Smokescreen's training.

While Smokescreen practiced defensive maneuvers with Bulkhead and Wheeljack, Bumblebee and Arcee were watching them. Optimus and Magnus conversed quietly about something, and the kids were playing their car race video game at the TV. Jack was currently watching Miko and Raf race against each other. While Raf was a tech genius, he wasn't very good at winning this video game against either Jack, Miko or Bumblebee especially. The yellow bot was an expert in that game. So it didn't take long for Raf's car to get bumped by Miko's car, spin out of control and crash, losing the game.

As Raf handed over his controller to Jack, so the latter could race against a gloating Miko, the little boy went over to see what Ratchet was doing. He was examining green goop through a (giant) microscope.

"What'cha doing, Ratch?" Raf asked curiously.

"I'm trying to finish the incomplete formula on synthetic energon," the medic replied. "But it's practically impossible without the recipe. I can only _guess_ what goes where. It's extremely complicated."

"Did you get anything done?"

"Only about 2%, at best," Ratchet sighed. "And by my calculations there's still at least 18% left of the recipe to be finished. And I spent two weeks getting just 1% done."

Raf hummed. He knew Ratchet had been working hard on that synthetic energon formula ever since the mess with the stuff back in the cliff base. He had spent all his free time working on the formula and only managed to complete a very small amount before the destruction of their base. It was fortunate he had stored the current schematics in his memory bank, allowing him to continue his work after they received a new base of operations.

Raf's eyes inadvertently fixed on a large tape recorder on Ratchet's desk. He had never seen it before, or maybe he had but never really paid attention to it. It seemed kind of strange, now that he thought about it.

"What's on that tape recorder?" he asked and pointed at it.

Ratchet moved his gaze to where he was pointing and hummed. "I found it in the Harbinger, while we were salvaging the GroundBridge and other objects on the ship. It's possible it belongs to Starscream."

The mention of the Seeker made a few other Autobots perk their audio receptors. Arcee and Bumblebee listened to their conversation though did not join in.

"Have you listened to it yet?" Raf asked, curious of what the Decepticon could have recorded on the device. "It might contain something useful."

"Perhaps," Ratchet said thoughtful and pulled away from his work. "I suppose I can take a break, as I am unable to continue any further now."

He grabbed the recorder and turned it on. There were thirty five log entries on it, some longer than others, and some extremely short, as if taken on a whim. He set the recorder to play the first entry, and turned up the volume as it was low in the beginning. He set it on auto-play so it would automatically move on to the next.

The first entry was uninteresting, only about the Seeker's self pity and declared solitude. Those present merely looked over for a second, then returned to their businesses, having lost interest in Starscream's blabbering. The second entry, however, was interesting enough to make all the Autobots perk to attention, even the distraught Prime and Magnus in the other end of the room. Even the kids stopped their video game to listen in.

" _One week has passed since I left the Decepticons. Six days since I met this stranger named Creop Trivem. He had energon pellets which he claimed would fuel me up for at least a month, and grant me supreme power. Well, he was wrong! I'm more hungry now than any time I've gone without energon!_ "

The Autobots glanced at one another. "Creop Trivem?" several muttered in question.

"Who's Creep?" Miko asked confused. "He another 'Con?"

Optimus glanced at Miko, while Starscream rattled on about his misfortune. "I am sorry to say, but he is unknown to me. I have never heard of that name before."

"It was never recorded in the Hall?" Ratchet asked surprised. "Every Cybertronian has a file in there, even the no-names and drones. It does have that, right?"

Optimus nodded. "While the Hall of Records holds many files, I have never come upon the name Creop Trivem. We must be cautious of this bot, if we ever meet him."

The third entry was about the purpose of Transformer teeth and consuming energon crystals. Again, nothing interesting or important, though somewhat fascinating to know.

At the fourth entry, however, interest was renewed once again.

" _I can't believe my luck. Two Heralds of Unicron within the same mega-cycle, and both helped me dig through the mine that had caved in not long ago, after my – ahem –_ conflict _with Lord Megatron._ "

"Heralds of Unicron?!" the Autobots repeated and shared gazes again.

"I don't know what that means, but it sounds like trouble!" Miko said. Before anyone could reply, Starscream continued:

" _Anyways, these two mechs, Sideways and Thrust, they managed to help me gain access to a whole week's supply of energon! Thank the AllSpark!_ "

"Sideways..." Arcee repeated.

"Thrust..." Ratchet said.

"Do you know _those_ names?" Jack asked.

"Thrust was a Conehead Decepticon, with Ramjet and Dirge as his trine mates during the war for Cybertron," Wheeljack replied. "But he didn't live long. I personally snuffed him with one of my explosives."

"And Sideways was a double agent, siding with both Autobots and Decepticons, depending on his mood," Arcee snarled. "He was even more treacherous than Screamy. He was shot down by me and Tailgate before he could deliver vital info to Megatron. It was shortly before Tailgate...was taaken by Airachnid."

"Weren't they both Seekers?" Smokescreen asked. "Both part of Screamer's army?"

The Autobots became thoughtful while Starscream's voice was complaining about the weather.

"Both were Starscream's Seekers, both terminated during the war," Magnus muttered. "Both returned to Starscream some months ago. Highly suspicious..."

The next six entries took place during the cataclysm, they could hear. Starscream describing the usual weather, his screams of fear and finally relief as he had found shelter. The two next ones were during the first time he had requested Ratchet's assistance, as well as about Optimus being a Decepticon. They all shuddered a bit by the memory of Prime being on the 'Cons' side. Magnus, Smokescreen and Wheeljack were all shocked, as they had not been present at the time and the Autobots had found it best not to talk about the events again.

The thirteenth and fourteenth logs were tied and included Starscream losing his T-cog, and they heard expressive screams on the second one.

Then, something very strange happened, just as entry number fourteen had finished.

" _Entry number sixteen. I had to sleep without shelter last night. I was simply too exhausted..._ "

"Wait, what?" Ratchet paused the recording. " _Six_ teen? What happened to _fif_ teen?"

" **Perhaps he forgot which number he had reached and skipped fifteen?** " Bumblebee suggested.

"No, there are thirty five logs recorded here. Let's see..."

He simply skipped through each recording, listening only to the entry number. Seventeen... eighteen... nineteen... all the way up to thirty five.

"They are all there," he said. "No doubles, no number thirty six. Entry number fifteen is listed here, but it didn't play..."

He played back to specifically number fifteen, turning auto-play off. A bunch of glitched letters appeared on the small screen, along with horrible crunchy noise.

" _Enchhhh-zzzchhh... Bzzzzchhhh and Rzzzorzhhazz... Crzzazzch Trozzzizzz... crazzz... crrrrhhhzzhhh... zzzz..._ "

Then, the recorder shut off by itself. Ratchet stared at it like it was contagious.

"The entry is corrupted. Something must have interfered during the recording."

Suddenly, it turned itself on again, set on the last entry, specifically at the end. No sound came out, only five eerie words, derived from the original text in the log entry. All the other letters were missing:

' **T-H-E D-A-R-K L-O-R-D S-H-A-L-L R-E-T-U-R-N** '

* * *

The Blendtrons were heading for their rendezvous point to meet up with the other Heralds. They had been quite surprised at Starscream's reaction to what they had told him about.

They had arrived at the Harbinger, to check if the Seeker had returned to his den, like they had checked a dozen times already. Only this time had he actually been there.

"Ey, Screamer! Nice to see you're alive," Rartorata had greeted the nervous Seeker. "Where you been all this time? We were worried about you!"

"For your information, I have returned to Megatron's side, in my rightful position," he snapped. "No need to have you creeps follow me around anymore."

"Right, you can function _all_ by yourself now," Drancon said sarcastically. "We were all pretty upset you didn't even leave us a note. We thought Nightbird had taken you away."

"Not really though, because if she had we-"

"Quiet, Rartorata!" Elphorca said and banged him on the head. "Remember our orders. No revelations."

Starscream didn't really listen to them though. He had dwelled on Drancron's notion "you didn't even leave us a note". He had left his log behind, explaining his situation and even said goodbye to them in it. Had they not arrived until after the Autobots had salvaged the place?

Secondly, he was distracted by Cross-Eyes stirring. She was beginning to wake up!

"Hey, Screamer, are you a'right?" Rartorata asked, catching his attention. "You seem kinda odd."

"Says the _Fuzor_ ," Starscream mumbled to himself. But before he could answer, Cross-Eyes let out a loud:

"Uuuaaaaahhh..." More of a yawn than a wail, but it was equally loud.

And thus the Blendtrons learned that Starscream had given birth to six sparklings, which utterly shocked them. _Strange,_ Starscream thought puzzled. _I was almost certain they were the reason the Heralds were so desperate to protect me. But it seems they didn't have a clue..._

"Oh, by the way, Screamer," Drancron said, snapping the Seeker out of his thoughts. "There's something you should know about. We've actually been searching for you for so long to tell you. Nightbird has decided she can't take you by herself when we're involved too, so she has sent for help."

This gave Starscrean a shudder, while Cross-Eyes continued hanging on his back with the help of her build-in magnets that sparklings had, just for this purpose. He didn't like the thought of Nightbird getting reinforcements at all.

"And, um, what kind of 'help' might she be sending for?" he asked nervously. He hoped dearly she wasn't asking the _Autobots_ for help.

"Real interesting, really," Rartorata said excitedly. "It's this ancient mech who is said to have vanquished the Predacons and thus saved the Cybertronian race that followed."

"He's said to have been created by the Primes as one of the first Cybertronian settlers, and the only survivor due to the attack of the Predacons," Drancron continued.

"It is said he's some kind of supernatural being with the power to burn anything he touches and destroys any machinery he gets near," Elphorca explained. "Furthermore he's a neutral, so he's a valid candidate to destroy either Autobots or Decepticons, which may be why Nightbird chose him."

Starscream stiffened. Ancient Cybertronian? Vanquisher of the Predacons? The power to burn and destroy machinery? Neutral?

"Wh...what is the name of this mech?" he asked, anxiously awaiting their answer.

"It may sound hard to believe," Elphorca began. "But the name of this mech is..."

"Sunstorm?!" Sideways exclaimed in disbelief, as the Blendtrons had met up with him. Thrust was keeeping an eye on Nightbird for now. "You've gotta be kidding me! How did Nightbird get such a legend on her side?"

"Dunno," Drancron said and shrugged. "But it spells big trouble for us. And when I told Screamer about it he didn't say anything. Just up and left without a word. What do you suppose happened?"

"Maybe he knows Sunstorm?" Rartorata suggested.

"Don't be stupid," Drancron said. "Sunstorm lived at the same time as the Predacons and is said to have been sealed away up until this point. Starscream wasn't even alive at that point. There's no way they know each other."

"To get back on topic," Sideways said, "we know Sunstorm has been hired by Nightbird to kill Starscream, and we can't have that. Secondly, we know that Starscream has returned to the Decepticons, which explains why we couldn't track him recently. Hopefully Nightbird hasn't figured out his location yet. As long as she doesn't know, she can't send Sunstorm after him just yet. There's still time to track this guy out and put him out of the picture."

* * *

"Is that a _threat_ , Starscream?" Megatron growled at his second-in-command, after the Seeker let out his previous words not to touch the stranger or he'd be dead.

"No, it's _serious_ ," Starscream said and turned to look at the much taller, blazing Seeker, the exact same size and build as Dreadwing but with a different head and minor details on his chassis. "This guy is seriously _dangerous_."

"Wait, wait, wait," the stranger said. "You didn't just call this bitlet _Starscream_ , did you?"

"Yes, and I believe he called _you_ Sunstorm," Megatron countered. "What of it?"

Sunstorm's malevolent expression suddenly became like a ray of sunshine. The flames surrounding him disappeared into thin air and revealed a stunningly beautiful frame of shiny, golden armor, perfectly shaped and without even a single scratch or grain of dust to dirt his image. His helm was pitch black, his face plate snow white, both the same perfectly shaped, shiny form as the main armor, as if this frame had never known fighting or even getting a little dirty. It was so surreal so see such a clean, perfect mech, it seemed as if they were staring at a painting – though even a painting would not compare to his shininess.

On each wing was a red and white stripe, his optics were a sparkling golden color, his cockpit was an amber-orange color, and what little they could see of his protoform was silver. He didn't seem real, with this perfect, beautiful body of his. In fact, he seemed more real and living when he was on fire. Perhaps it was the fire that burned away any dirt and debris, and protected him from ever getting hurt. Maybe even buffing his armor in a rather disturbing way.

Both Megatron and Starscream were shocked at the bright colors and ridiculously shiny armor. Despite being nighttime, the moonlight shined brightly on his glossy armor, making him glow like a saint – which was exactly what he was, coincidentally.

"Starscream, I can't believe it's you!" Sunstorm said and held out his arms, almost as if he expected Starscream to hug him. But the small Seeker stayed put, and the bigger one lowered his arms again. "I had heard you were onboard some deception ship called 'Name-Sis', but I was lost for two weeks searching for this ship. I really didn't recognize you! What happened to your body?"

"First of all, it's Decep _ticon_ , and _Nemesis_. Secondly...I don't want to talk about it," he said in an embarrassed manner.

"Come on, last time I saw you, you were as big as me, all silver, red and blue. Why are you such a pipsqueak now?"

Starscream looked nervous in Megatron's direction. The warlord seemed to sneer but didn't say anything. He didn't know how Starscream had gone from being a fairly big, powerful and competent Seeker, to being a tiny, skinny and weak bot, comparable to a Vehicon. He _was_ a little curious to know, but as this change made him more submissive towards the now much more powerful-than-him Megatron, he generally did not care how it came to be.

Starscream sighed, knowing this person wouldn't leace him alone until he got his question answered.

"I was...fatally wounded during the fall of Cybertron," he admitted hesitantly. He didn't need to tell them how; he had thought he could coerce the Dinobot Grimlock into assisting him with taking the power from Megatron, but the big brute had simply thrown the Seeker hard into the lock panel, getting himself free from his restraints. The Seeker had afterwards fallen unconscious. After a few mega-cycles, just as he had regained consciousness, the building exploded and collapsed on top of him. Unable to escape, he got buried beneath the rubble.

"And then," he continued, leaving the most embarrasing details out, "Shockwave found me."

Megatron listened deeply. _Shockwave? He knows something about this?_ he thought. _I must ask him about this later._

"We made a deal," the Seeker continued, unbeknownst to Megatron's thoughts. "He would save my chassis if I replaced his arm for him. I don't remember much myself, but when I woke up, I found myself in this sorry state, my own body turned to scrap. He told me he had used a spare Vehicon protoform and transferred my spark into it, along with a cube of energon. While these claws have been useful several times, everything else about this body has been utterly useless and humiliating."

Megatron hummed. _So that's what happened. I always thought he looked somewhat similar to the Vehicons..._

Sunstorm had crossed his arms while listening to the Air Commander's explanation. "And how are Thundercracker and Skywarp?" he suddenly asked.

The question seemed out of the blue. Neither Starscream nor Megatron had heard those names for many, many years. The twosome had followed the Decepticons on the Nemesis to Earth after the fall of Cybertron, but shortly after arriving, they had both disappeared. They never bothered to search for either of them, as Skywarp was a scrap-brained idiot and Thundercracker was an even bigger bloat-head than Starscream. Starscream had been the only one to get a new body after the war, however, making those two physically more powerful than the Air Commander himself, regrettably. He had been unhappy about his Trine commanders being stronger than him, and now Sunstorm had just reminded him of them.

It was a good question though. Where _were_ they? What were they doing? Were they still functional? Had they been offlined, by Autobots or even the human government? Starscream had no idea.

"No clue," he simply answered. "Dead, most likely. As they should be, those good-for-nothing morons."

"Wow, wow, what's with the language, Star?" Sunstorm exclaimed while waving his hands. "I thought you three had become Trinemates?"

Megatron noticed he didn't give him the usual "Screamy" nickname. And by the way they talked, it seemed as if they knew each other personally. Even so, practically everyone who knew the Seeker personally – even his Trinemates Skywarp and Thundercracker, as well as the rest of his Seekers - would call him "Screamer", "Screamy" or just "Scream". Some even call him a "harpy" or a "whiner". Starscream had always hated that. But he never showed signs of hating his name itself. Strange.

But this mech seemed to know Starscream on a different basis. What was he to the Air Commander?

"We were, but I've never liked them, and I still don't. I honestly don't care what's happened to them or if they're even alive. What are _you_ even doing here, Sunstorm?"

"Primus told me to return to Cybertron," the golden mech explained with a sigh. "But when I arrived, I saw it was destroyed. A horrible sight. Whatever happened to our world?"

Megatron quirked a brow and went in. "Ignorant fool," he sneered at the mech, who turned and gazed at him by the insult. "Our world was lost to the war. It's been that way for _eons_. As a Decepticon, you should know that."

"Pardon me, dear sir," Sunstorm said in a surprisingly calm tone despite the criticism thrown at him. "But I am not a Decepticon, neither am I one of these so-called Autobots. Furthermore, I have been on a voyage for five million years in space, searching for other Cybertronian colonies to introduce to the Will of Primus. I did not know of any war ever taking place since he time of the Predacons. Speaking of which," he added and looked past Megatron at the open door where the Predacon and Metalhawk were trying desperately to hide, but in vain, "isn't that a Predacon right there? I thought I had wiped them all out a billion years ago."

This made the newcoming Decepticons, who had entered the flight deck to investigate what what going on, all gasp in shock.

"A b-b-billion years?!" Knock Out coughed. "No mech can be that old and be so stunning! You're jibber-jabbering."

"I never lie or kid, if that's what you mean, Grounder. But thank you for the compliment. You too have quite an impressive finish. Though, not as impressive as my own, of course."

He almost sounded as arrogant as Thundercracker. Almost.

"Uh...thank you?" Knock Out was uncertain whether to take this mech seriously or not.

Behind him, the sparklings had all followed him outside, running into each other as he had stopped. They had now gotten up and walked over to get a better look at the stranger. Their eyes gleamed with excitement as some of the reflected light shone on the floor. Outrage, the green sparkling, touched the floor to try and catch the light, but as it just continued to move around, he followed its quick movements and patted the floor to catch it, all while emitting little squeaks as he thought he had caught one.

Sunstorm intentionally made it hard for the sparkling. The glowing Seeker grinned at the sight of the playing sparkling.

"Cute sparklings," he commented. "Whose are they?"

Starscream turned around and first noticed them now, as did the others. "Oh, that reminds me... KNOCK OUT!"

The doctor winced at the call of his name, but knew he had no way of hiding now. "...yes?" he whispered.

"Why had Cross-Eyes tagged along with me when I had told you to keep an eye on _all_ of them at _all_ times?" He turned to show the now sleeping sparkling resting on his back. They hadn't noticed her until now because she blended so well into the Seeker's back, due to both having gray and silver plating.

"Um, I...uh..." began Knock Out.

Sunstorm stared at the clingy sparkling. "That sparkling..."

Starscream turned with an irritated look on his face. "What?"

"I sense dark energon within it."

They all stared at him. They only knew she had dark energon because Knock Out had examined her chassis and spark chamber. Megatron knew because he had dark energon flowing through him as well, thus being able to sense dark energon anywhere. The Seekers were somewhat able to sense it because they had worked with refined dark energon back on Cybertron, and they had all gained sonewhat of an immunity to its effects, unlike the Autobots who couldn't tolerate touching the stuff or even being near it.

But Sunstorm had no dark energon within it, and if he did he would probably try to kill himself. He was the biggest hater of Unicron in the universe, and would eliminate anyone even _suspected_ of siding with the Chaos Bringer. This thought made Starscream wince. He knew exactly what he meant now.

"You're not touching her," he said and turned to face him, shielding his sparkling. "They're all mine."

Something in Sunstorm's processor seemed to snap. "Oh," was all he said. "I see."

There was a long moment of intense silence. What was going to happen now? Was he going to attack? Would he try to kill the sparkling?

Come to think of it, Starscream thought, if he, the biggest Unicron hater and Primus zealot ever, had the ability to somehow sense dark energon, then why did he not try to frag Megatron?

 _Because he knows Lord Megatron will be equal, if not greater in power than him,_ the Seeker thought. _He may be a mad Saint, but he is anything but stupid. He will hold back on terminating Megatron until he has gathered more information, I'm sure. He won't let such a dangerous "Unicron-lover" as he calls them, live. I doubt he'll have a chance against Lord Megatron though. Then again, he_ was _the one who wiped out the Predacons...fortunately._

Sunstorm turned around, heading for the edge of the flight deck.

"What-where are you going?" the Seeker asked confused. He was certain he was going to scrap them.

"I am not dumb, Star," the golden Seeker replied rather gloomily. "And I am also not sparkless, despite what you and the others may think of me. I will not strike on one of my own, and the only reason I would try to kill a sparkling would be if it had a direct threat. I promise I will not harm it now, but once it grows up, or if you ever leave it alone, I will not hesitate to rid the universe of one more demon."

"Gee, thanks," the small Seeker snarled sarcastically. "You're too kind."

"I'm serious, Star. I _will_ kill it if I see it alone. This one has a bad spark, and the others have strange sparks too. The yellow one though...feels kind of nice," referring to "Goldy".

Starscream winced at the notion. "I won't allow you to harm _any_ of my sparklings. I do not care about the past, _I_ won't hesitate to kill you if you try to or do harm even _one_ of my children."

Sunstorm shook his head and transformed to his Cybertronian jet mode, flames starting to flare up again. "I hope you'll come to understand the truth soon, Starscream. I do hope to see you again. I will stay on Earth for now until Cybertron becomes inhabitable again. I was really looking forward to coming home. And Megatron," the Seeker said just before taking off, making the warlord looked at him with a questionable look.

" _Don't you dare convert my little brother into a Herald of Unicron._ "


End file.
